Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and finally made up his mind to ring the bell and let the waiter in.

“This porridge, and this, and this……”

He jabbed on the menu with his finger. In addition to the seafood porridge, there were also dishes with a light taste, with less oil and salt, and an order of beautiful crystal shrimp dumplings.

The more “ordinary dishes” one ate here, the more expensive it was. While ordering, he felt as if someone had chopped off a piece of meat from his small wallet.

But he couldn’t let his family’s big golden cat only eat porridge. A certain person was so sick in the morning that he barely ate, and now he would feed him a bit more to avoid sudden hypoglycemia.

The waiter reminded in a low voice: “Sir, our portions are relatively small and may not be enough for the two of you.”

Xia Xingchi blinked, and then subconsciously glanced at the veal steak and milk cake that he had been thinking about.

He swallowed, but in the end he just waved his hand and said: “I won’t eat, just order these.”

Li Chengyuan, who was sitting on the sidelines, frowned slightly when he heard these words.

At first he was prepared to eat vegetable salad, or at most greasy sausage fried rice. 

He never thought that this stingy little money-grubber would only be willing to buy things for him, and wouldn’t be stingy about spending money on him……even though his original intention was to make Xia Xingchi feel bad.

Seeing the seafood porridge being served on the table, the warm heat seemed to penetrate Li Chengyuan’s heart instantly.

His fingers curled up slightly. It turned out that this was the surprising feeling of being cared for.

“Wow, it smells so nice!” Xia Xingchi admired it, leaning over to study the reason it was so expensive and the difference between seafood that was shipped by air and seafood that was bought casually at a street stall.

Being drawn in by the scent made him even more greedy, and his stomach let out a gurgle that was very clear in the quiet booth.

“Haha……” Xia Xingchi smiled awkwardly.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Over the years, he had often been filled with resentment for this little liar, and had thought of many ways to make him pay a terrible price.

Unexpectedly, Xia Xingchi had not been allowed to eat for a while now, and his heart had already softened so much that he couldn’t do anything more.

“Try it quickly, what are you thinking about?” Xia Xingchi reached out and poked him.

Li Chengyuan stood abruptly, said with a sullen face, “I’m going to the bathroom,” then opened the door and left.

So Xia Xingchi was left alone in the room with the fragrant smells and a hungry stomach.

He had no choice but to divert his attention by going on Weibo and aimlessly typing the words, “Li Chengyuan.”

It was just for fun at first, but he was shocked when he saw the search results — he actually had so many fans?!

Although Li Chengyuan was very low-key, he couldn’t hide his high-profile face. The industry of Li Group involved all walks of life. Its branches were astonishingly huge, and its strong capital was obvious to all.

Therefore, several groups of keywords were put together: “Young and handsome, mysterious big tycoon.” It was full of impact, the perfect match for a male god.

As for those rumored shortcomings such as “ruthless means,” “cruel personality,” and “bad health,” fans obsessively called him the perfect male protagonist.

— But wasn’t this obviously the character design of the crazy villain?!

Xia Xingchi continued to scroll down, but suddenly found that not everyone was sure about Li Chengyuan’s appearance. 

Even though his blurry photos and back view were on the trending searches not long ago, it was the same every time. The hot search terms and pictures could only persist for a few minutes before disappearing completely due to his money-making ability.

In fact, there were pictures of Li Chengyuan on the internet, but there were dozens of versions of Li Chengyuan who were “suspected” to be the rightful owner.

It was rare for someone to take a clear picture of his face, and he was the first to be excluded by everyone. He saw the following piece in the comment area:

[Ah, this……Although Mr. Li is said to be handsome, there’s no need to exaggerate it so much, right? Is it possible for him to be more handsome than a celebrity who relies on their face to make a living?]

[Let it go, it’s easy to see which internet celebrity is hot (rolls eyes.jpg)]

[This picture is so handsome (drooling.jpg). I’ll take it first, asking for the Weibo of his internet celebrity brother]

[Who will delete it? Don’t confuse this fake picture with Mr. Li’s super topics.]

Fans were curious and eager to see the real face of the male god, so they sorted out the nine versions that were most likely to be correct, and then tagged the Li Group and asked them to claim their own boss.

But of course no one dared to speak up and reveal the truth.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help laughing wildly at the thought that the correct answer had been kicked out long ago and all nine of them were wrong. Everyone was still seriously voting. Which choice was the right one?

He laughed and laughed, but was unavoidably a little sad —

It occurred to him that fans would suddenly learn of the male god’s death in the near future. They would definitely be heartbroken and in disbelief.

It would be great if Li Chengyuan didn’t die. Maybe everyone would have a chance to see him later, take a look at the book’s pinnacle of handsomeness and not have to guess if he was good-looking or not.

Li Chengyuan had just pushed the door open and come in when he saw Xia Xingchi’s sad expression and drooping eyebrows.

He was stunned for a moment, thinking that he was aggrieved because he couldn’t eat.

Subtle distress and self-blame spread through the bottom of his heart, accompanied by sourness.

But even so, he didn’t say anything. He just sat down and drank the porridge without speaking, pretending like he hadn’t seen anything.

His aching stomach was gradually comforted by the warm sensation, and a bowl of seafood porridge, which had always been commonplace in his eyes, was more cherished than ever because of its extraordinarily different meaning.

“Is it delicious?!” Xia Xingchi was always optimistic, and his sadness was fleeting as he became cheerful again.

As soon as he spoke, there was a knock on the door and a waiter entered with a tray.

On it were a variety of delicacies, including of course Xia Xinchi’s long-coveted veal steak and many dessert milk cakes.

The other party quickly showed a standard service smile: “Hello, Sir, congratulations on becoming our store’s 99th customer! This is a gift for you —”

“Wait a minute, what event?” 

Xia Xingchi was taken aback upon hearing this, then went to look at those things again and finally asked: “You mean……all of this was given to me?”

— Such a high-end restaurant actually had such a strange down-to-earth activity?

— More importantly, why were these “gifts” more expensive than the meal he ordered?

— Could it be a lie? Didn’t everyone know about anti-fraud precautions?

Countless question marks circled in Xia Xingchi’s mind, but at this moment, he smelled the aroma of the veal steak.

It was more fragrant than he had imagined…..after greed consumed half his soul, he suddenly felt that there was nothing to doubt.

“This event is our tradition! Our boss is commemorating his and his wife’s wedding anniversary, and it signifies long-lasting love.” The waiter smiled with enthusiasm. “You really are super lucky!”

His rhetoric was very authentic, and his smile was contagious. Xia Xingchi finally believed it and became excited: “Wow! Even I can be a lucky koi for a moment!”

Li Chengyuan looked at his smiling appearance and curved eyes, and smiled slightly. He nodded faintly when looking up at the waiter, implying his affirmation of the other party’s acting skills.

A large pie from the sky was obviously the happiest thing for a little money-grubber. The joy that came from a sense of luck could not be exchanged for money.

So until the waiter left, Xia Xingchi was still giggling foolishly, and it took him a long while to remember to eat.

It was indeed the delicacy he coveted, and it was expensive for a reason: The milk cake was very tender, sweet but not greasy, and had a rich milk flavor. The veal steak was also cooked well, tender and juicy.

Every dish was very tasty. Xia Xingchi narrowed his eyes contentedly, and Li Chengyuan couldn’t help but want to poke his puffy cheeks.

– – –

It was only that when the little money-grubber was about to pay the bill with the heartache of cutting off his own flesh, he saw that the waiter in charge of the checkout didn’t perform so well: “Sir, because Mr. Li……is our senior VIP, the dishes today are, are…..”

 Xia Xingchi looked at him doubtfully, wondering if this waiter had a stammer or just wasn’t too smart. 

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan gradually frowned, and had no choice but to make a silent “five”  gesture.

“Right! Today’s dishes are 50 percent off!” The waiter who was nervous to the point of freezing up finally finished his task with difficulty.

When it came to money, a little money-grubber was very shrewd and sharp, especially when facing one of his waiter “peers.”

Realizing that something was off, he astutely asked the other party: “Are you reciting a manuscript? Who told you to say that?”

While speaking, he quickly turned his head to stare at a certain suspect, and realized that the “99” event just now was also very deliberate.

However, Li Chengyuan still wore his usual cold expression and calmly took a sip of warm water. It seemed that he didn’t care about such “trivial things,” and looked even more indifferent.

“Li Chengyuan, did you……” Before Xia Xingchi finished speaking, he noticed that the waiter was about to cry from stress.

In order not to embarrass the hard-working waiter, he had to swipe his card to pay first – he used the salary he earned from making the advertisement, which was regretful but also filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

After the waiter left and the room became quiet again, Xia Xingchi turned his head again, trying to find some clues from a certain person’s expression.

But Li Chengyuan lowered his face first and changed the subject, asking: “Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”

When Xia Xingchi swiped his card, he noticed that there was nothing on his right middle finger.

“I’m afraid of it being seen by others.” Xia Xingchi pulled out the ring on a string from his collar. “In the end, I’m also a small artist.”

After some thought, he felt that he was in the wrong, so he hastily imitated Li Chengyuan and passed the blame: “It’s all your fault for being so popular. If your fans know that you married young, they’ll kill me!”

In an instant, he changed his identity from “The little scumbag who wants to hide his marriage in order to make money” to “The poor little guy who had to marry secretly because his other half was too popular.”

Li Chengyuan: “……”

After saying so, Xia Xingchi felt ashamed of his wages. If his status as an artist made this relationship invisible, what would happen if his salary was deducted by his sponsor?

So he had no choice but to come up with a plan to delay the attack: “It’s okay to make it public, but you have to give your fans a period of preparation and buffering. Let them accept it gradually, all right?”

This was the honest truth. If it was suddenly made public, Xia Xingchi suspected that he would be directly slaughtered. Not to mention stardom and making money in the entertainment industry.

Anyway, Li Chengyuan always kept a low profile and didn’t care about such things. Coupled with the fact that he had to deal with all sorts of affairs all day long, even if he had the leisure to manage and pave the way in front of everyone, he would definitely set it aside.

But what Xia Xingchi didn’t know was that these words made a certain villain ponder quietly for a while.

Finally, after the two left the restaurant and boarded the car, Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes silently and sent a few messages.

– – – 

The autumn night was clear, and twinkling stars could be seen in the sky above the villa.

As a worker who kept his promises, although the boss went to the company in the evening and hadn’t come back yet, Xia Xingchi obediently brought over his pillow and blanket.

He really didn’t know what kind of madness was plaguing Li Chengyuan, but after thinking of it for a long time, he finally found an explanation — Li Chengyuan wanted someone to warm him up.

After all, this person had poor health and was always afraid of the cold. If he wanted to sleep comfortably, hot water bottles and electric blankets were certainly not as comfortable as a large human-shaped heater that maintained a constant temperature.

When this thought occurred to him, Xia Xingchi hesitated for a moment, and in the end took back the blanket he had brought, leaving only Li Chengyuan’s blanket on the bed.

He waited until ten o’clock in the evening, but never saw Li Chengyuan’s silhouette.

“Aunt Li, why hasn’t he come back? It’s so late.” Xia Xingchi eventually became worried. “Is there a party tonight? Then he can’t drink, his delicate stomach can’t handle it.”

Aunty Li saw that the couple was so “loving,” so she smiled and replied: “Don’t worry, Sir is well aware. Besides, no one would dare to make him drink — it’s likely that too much work has accumulated these past few days and he hasn’t finished it yet.”

Since Xia Xingchi suddenly appeared in Li Chengyuan’s bathtub a few days ago and fled in a hurry, he first cast a wide net to find someone and then immediately afterwards proceeded to get engaged as if on a whim. He had indeed accumulated a lot of work.

Xia Xingchi could only nod.

On one hand, he was worried that he hadn’t eaten dinner, and on the other hand, he thought that this was a good thing, lest he be so frightened that he couldn’t sleep while there was a crazy villain lying next to him.

Taking advantage of Li Chengyuan’s absence, he quickly soaked in the bathtub to wash himself clean, then went ahead and dried his hair with a hair dryer. 

He even took out a new pair of pajamas and put them on.

After taking a bath and changing clothes to make sure that he was clean enough to climb onto the dragon bed of His Irascible Majesty without being violently beaten, only then did he turn off the lights and burrow into the bed to lie down.

The blanket smelled a little like Li Chengyuan’s shampoo and aftershave. He was ensconced in the very nice, cool scent.

Xia Xingchi buried his head in it to sniff, and in the end, he was easy to please and didn’t mind sleeping in a different bed. He wrapped himself up completely, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

– – –

When Li Chengyuan returned in the early hours of the morning, as soon as he entered the room, he saw a round, bulging silhouette on the bed, which seemed to move a little bit.

He was stunned for a moment, not realizing what it was.

Perhaps the “joy” came on too suddenly, and it took him a while to realize that he had already tricked a certain liar.

His heart like a pool of stagnant water came alive in an instant, and Li Chengyuan’s eyes showed some warmth as he gently lifted the blanket like opening a gift —

Xia Xingchi was sleeping with a pillow in his arms. His white and slender legs were exposed below his loose pajama pants, draped over the pillow like a little koala hugging a tree.

The corners of his pajamas were also lifted crookedly, revealing a slim and youthful waist.

He had clearly used the same shower gel, but on him, it smelled even more pleasant.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips. A trace of passion and forbearance flashed in his eyes, and after a long while, he leaned over and gently touched Xia Xingchi’s hand.

---

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Chapter Sixteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighteen

In Yan Mingting’s memory, birthdays were rarely celebrated and he was at the border all year round, so he didn’t have the heart to hold a birthday party. What’s more, since his loved ones all passed away one after another, he never looked forward to his so-called birthday. Without relatives, the meaning of the day was gone. On the contrary, it reminded him that he was the “evil star” among the world’s population, and he was left to live alone.

But this year was different.

There was one more person beside him, a person bound to him in marriage. They were one in name, and he was the closest person he had now.

He also couldn’t tell when his thoughts toward Zhao Yelan had shifted.

At first, he just noticed that Zhao Yelan was different from the rumors in the market, but he didn’t let down his guard easily. While observing him and getting along with him, he gradually became aware of his interest.

The person kept emphasizing how cold-blooded and ruthless he was on the surface, but in fact, when he got angry, he would just use the chickens in the back courtyard to vent. There was also the rabbit that he didn’t seem to pay much attention to, but immediately went to check on when he saw the braised rabbit head.

He may be kind, but when he really got serious, he was like the king of Hell. It had to be said that Yan Mingting was still deeply impressed by the scene where he personally killed that strange man in the brothel.

Simple good and evil did not seem to easily define Zhao Yelan.

It was likely that Yan Mingting also had rebellious bones in his body. Once he discovered that Zhao Yelan had an evil side, he would not believe what the world said about him having a cruel nature. On the contrary, he felt that someone else was at fault for torturing a good person until he became like this, and he felt sorry for the other even more.

No matter how miserable Yan Mingting was, at least his father guided him for more than ten years before passing away. But Zhao Yelan had grown up alone in the capital city, surrounded by wolves.

The world was vicious, and no one treated Zhao Yelan well, so why should he cling to the true, the good, and the beautiful?

In the early morning, Yan Mingting was still going to court as usual. To his surprise, Zhao Yelan also woke up, and when he was about to go out, he personally escorted him to the gate.

Yan Mingting suspected that he was still dreaming.

Otherwise, how could Zhao Yelan be so thoughtful!

He had hinted and outright said to Zhao Yelan more than once that he hoped he could follow the example of Kan Chuan’s wife and send him off when he went to court.

But he also knew that according to Zhao Yelan’s temperament, it was absolutely impossible for him to agree to this request.

Now that he did it obediently, Yan Mingting was not accustomed to it and felt flustered for some reason.

In the past two days, Zhao Yelan’s kindness toward him seemed a little too much, but he thought – maybe it was because of his birthday?

He turned his head. It was truly darkest before dawn, and only a waning moon hung in the sky. Faint moonlight fell on the man as Zhao Yelan stood upright at the gate and saw him off. His heart warmed and he waved his hand, urging: “Go back, ba, go back to sleep! I’ll be back soon!”

Zhao Yelan nodded slightly, not knowing if he could see it or not, and then turned and went back. He went to the study with a candle in his hand, and quietly studied the ink and paper laid out.

Yan Mingting had said he would be back soon, but he was still caught up in the affairs of the court. First he discussed with everyone the suppression of the bandits, then after a prolonged time in court, many people held him back to congratulate him on his birthday. They all said that they had prepared congratulatory gifts and were waiting to visit him for a drink.

How could this work!

Were they very close?

Yan Mingting didn’t want to trade sham gestures of politeness with them on a good day, so he rejected all entertainments, let it be known that he would not attend banquets, and did not accept gifts, let alone guests.

Everyone was resentful, but Kan Chuan followed in his footsteps discreetly and handed over a land deed to him.

“How can this be done!” Yan Mingting repeatedly refused. Although he knew that Kan Chuan belonged to Zhao Yelan, he could not accept such an expensive gift. “Take it back quickly, or I will beat you.”

“The General misunderstands, this is not for you.” Kan Chuan glanced around and saw that no one was nearby, so he whispered, “It is for ‘him.’ He accidentally dropped it in my child’s gift, please return it to him.”

How could Zhao Yelan be so obsessed with money, yet leave such an important thing behind? It must have been given to Kan Chuan on purpose, but Kan Cuan wouldn’t keep it, ah.

“I understand.” Yan Mingting frowned, and the suspicions in his heart became even deeper. After a moment, he patted Kan Chuan’s shoulder with a smile and raised his voice, “All right, since what you gave is a calligraphy painting, I’ll make an exception and accept it. No more spending money in the future, ah!”

Although no one was around, Kan Chuan was amused by his cautiousness and agreed: “Okay, it will be the General’s turn to give my child a one-month celebration gift another day.”

“Not a problem, not a problem. But there is one thing that I would like to ask you……”

Breakfast in the General’s Mansion was almost getting cold, and Yan Mingting came in late.

When Xiao Gao saw that he had returned, he immediately called out loudly: “My lord, the General is back! Come and eat!”

Yan Mingting smiled and sat down first, looking at the dishes on the table. There was a bowl of longevity noodles with two eggs in it, along with other side dishes.

“General, eat this bowl of longevity noodles quickly,” Housekeeper Qin said with a smile.

“Where is Zhao Yelan……” Yan Mingting paused as he saw Zhao Yelan coming out of the gatehouse. He wore clothes the color of amber, the shade deep and gorgeous, with flowing clouds embroidered on the sleeves and the hem. The patterns on his body were stitched with intersecting gold and silver threads, so complicated that the pattern wasn’t discernable, but he found it so pleasing to the eye that he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Yan Mingting suddenly understood why Zhao Yelan enjoyed buying clothing so much.

Clothes made the man look good, and the man also made the clothes look good.

Only by complementing each other could this effect be achieved.

Buy! No matter how expensive, you must buy! Buy them all! Only good-looking clothes were worthy of his person!

Not to mention Yan Mingting, the servants had also been staring blankly for a long time. They had not recovered from the shock all morning, and just thought it was an immortal that had come down to earth, arriving here to open their eyes.

Zhao Yelan was accustomed to these kinds of gazes, and could tell whether they were good or not. It was only that when dressing today, he couldn’t find anything he liked after picking and choosing. After all, he seldom wore the same clothes twice, but today might be the only time he wore it – he was celebrating Yan Mingting’s birthday with him, and the color matched the occasion quite well.

“My lord is so beautiful today!” Xiao Gao was very supportive. “This outfit was bought last year and he has never worn it!”

Zhao Yelan was a little embarrassed when he heard these words just as he was about to sit down. They made it seem as if he had worn them on a specially chosen day.

Well, it was no exaggeration to say that it was special, but this was not the only reason. This set of clothes was very complicated to wear, and was too eye-catching, so he ought not to take it away with him. Since he had spent a lot of money to buy it, he must wear it once.

After convincing himself of this, he looked at Yan Mingting with feigned casualness: “I wear whatever I want.”

“En, I know,” Yan Mingting said seriously. “Even if you dress casually, it will make people feel ashamed in comparison.”

Zhao Yelan touched his nose in embarrassment: “Eat the noodles first, they’ll get lumpy.”

“All right.” Yan Mingting looked at him while eating noodles. At first he just glanced secretly, but later his gaze became more and more unrestrained. In the end, he even drained the soup from the bowl while staring at him.

“……” Zhao Yelan had a difficult time ignoring his gaze. Before finishing the noodles, he put down his chopsticks stiffly, took a deep breath, and maintained a smile: “What are you looking at?”

“I just feel that everything is fine aside from one small deficiency,” Yan Mingting commented very seriously.

Zhao Yelan’s expression changed slightly: “Where is the deficiency?”

“Come with me.” Yan Mingting put down the bowl, grabbed his sleeve, and walked toward the bedroom.

Yan Mingting’s steps were a little too big, and Zhao Yelan had to increase his speed to keep up. The sleeves of his outfit fluttered beautifully.

Yan Mingting paused for a moment, then led him from one end of the corridor to the other, and then back again.

“Yan Mingting, are you ill?!” Zhao Yelan was dreadfully tormented by him. It was rare for him to decide to spend a good birthday with him today without getting angry, but this fellow repeatedly tested the boundaries of his patience.

Yan Mingting laughed, coaxed him with a few words, and took him back to the room to search through a drawer. After a while, he finally found the flowing cloud jade hairpin, inserted it into his hair, and said with satisfaction: “Not bad, not bad, very nice.”

Zhao Yelan subconsciously glanced in the bronze mirror. He didn’t think it was very beautiful, and it was a bit cumbersome. It was not as good-looking as the gold-plated jade crown he had specially chosen today.

But Yan Mingting didn’t allow him to choose, so he gave up.

Yan Mingting began to stare at him unscrupulously again.

Zhao Yelan took a few steps in the room, was unable to divert his attention, and had begun to think about poking his eyes out to blind him when he heard footsteps.

“General, I heard that today is your birthday!”

Zuo Ran had slept from noon to midnight yesterday, got up to get something to eat from the kitchen, and fell asleep again until now. When she awoke, she heard servants happily discussing birthdays, and only then did she know what day it was. She hurriedly came to congratulate him, but found that there was another person in the room. She exclaimed and covered her eyes: “Did I come at a bad time?”

Yan Mingting: Such a bad time!

“It is fine,” Zhao Yelan said. “Come in and talk.”

Only then did Zuo Ran walk in, wondering: “Are you not going to the Imperial Academy today, my lord? At this time yesterday, you had already set off.”

Right!

Yan Mingting had only been interested in the happy proceedings and hadn’t taken this matter into consideration at all. He said: “Hurry up and change into your official uniform, I’ll send you there. There’s still time.”

“No need, I’m not on duty today.”

Nonsense. He and Ruan Xian had switched dates, but he couldn’t say this or else Yan Mingting’s tail would be up to the sky.^[1]

“Very good.” Yan Mingting chuckled, then looked at Zuo Ran. “What do you want from us?”

Zuo Ran swiftly congratulated him on his birthday and took out some coins from her purse: “I didn’t know what you would like, General, so these are my congratulatory gifts. I didn’t expect to ask you to help me on such a day. This trip to the south will take a month at least. My life is as cheap as grass, but I will never forget such kindness!”

As she said this, she knelt down with a plop and kowtowed to Yan Mingting. Her head knocked on the ground almost hard enough to break skin.

“Okay, get up quickly. If Yin Pinglu saw this, she would think I was bullying you.” Yan Mingting helped her up. “You and Pinglu are my friends, so isn’t helping a friend the correct thing to do?”

“Friends?” Zuo Ran panicked. “How can I be worthy of being friends with the General!”

She came from a low family background and didn’t know but a few characters, so how could she dare be friends with General Yan!

“What ‘worthy,’ you value love and righteousness, and you went to the battlefield with us anonymously. Your courage is enough for me to call you my friend. I just reincarnated better than you, but I still need someone to help me when I am in distress. You and Pinglu happened to help me solve a big problem. This is the fate of friends,” Yan Mingting said.

Zuo Ran’s eyes turned red and Yan Mingting teased: “Zuo Ran, why didn’t I realize you were still a crybaby? Where has all your fierceness gone?”

Wiping away her tears, Zuo Ran cheered up again: “Don’t worry, General. After I rescue Pinglu, I will go to the border and formally enlist in the army and join the Yuehong team!”

There were no female leaders in the army, but Yan Mingting favored Zhong Yuehong, and Beijing was too busy with transitioning to a new Emperor to take care of the affairs of the frontier. He set a precedent by promoting a female lieutenant general, which caused a lot of controversy at first, but fortunately Zhong Yuehong persuaded everyone with her strength.

Afterwards, one or two occasional women wanted to join and were arranged under Zhong Yuehong’s command.

“Yes, ah, your women’s army is growing stronger and stronger.” Yan Mingting was very pleased.

Zuo Ran smiled, and also had an idea in mind. She had been trying to escape before, not wanting the Magistrate to discover where she and Yin Pinglu were. But now she realized the importance of status and hated her incompetence. She also wanted to make contributions like Zhong Yuehong and let everyone know how powerful she was, so that no one would dare snatch anyone away from her!

He Cuizhang also came after a while, bringing a few jars of good wine. He said he wanted to drink until they were drunk, but Zhao Yelan gave him a glare and he changed his words: “This good wine should be stored in the cellar first, and we can drink it after the New Year!”

He Cuizhang inwardly patted himself on the back. No wonder the General was henpecked, who wouldn’t be afraid when they saw such a look?

After lunch, everyone began giving gifts. He Cuizhang gave a big sword that he and several other lieutenants had pooled their money to buy, including Zhong Yuehong.

Housekeeper Qin gave a peace talisman, and Xiao Gao also gave a gift – a bunch of tanghulu. He had originally bought twenty skewers, but couldn’t hold back last night and ate ten of them.

The Li family did not come, but their gift also arrived. Li Jinyu sent a compilation of military tactics, and Li Yucheng sent a few gold ingots.

Yan Mingting suddenly felt that perhaps this Li Yuheng and Zhao Yelan could become confidantes, look at this unbearably vulgar money grubber!

Wait……would Zhao Yelan really give him money simply and flagrantly? He couldn’t help but think of last night’s account book. All that money……in the end, should he accept it or not?

He was shamefully moved. Oops, it turned out that he was also very vulgar. He really deserved to be a member of this family!

---

[1] Tail up to the sky = being arrogant and full of oneself. ⮐

---

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Chapter Forty-Seven <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Nine

Wang Chengjin was still talking nonsense: “Mr. Li, this matter is simply too strenuous. Those people are quite difficult, I —”

Li Chengyuan interrupted coldly: “Get to the point.”

Xia Xingchi’s eyes scanned the picture of the little milk cake, thinking that since this person was so desperate to please Li Chengyuan, why didn’t he think about treating the guests to something to eat?

This was on par with his own stinginess, ah.

If Wang Chengjin knew that he thought so, he would definitely feel wronged: Today the boss obviously wanted to bring his lover out to play, and just asked him in passing to come over and report.

He had guessed that he would bring Young Master Xia, but didn’t expect that it would be a good-looking little lover instead……But no matter, he would be crazy to order food and “join them” to eat and talk.

Seeing that Li Chengyuan was impatient, Wang Chenjin quickly finished speaking: “All in all, if you do the math — the money owed by Young Master Xia is 15 million to be settled.”

“What……cough cough cough!”

Xia Xingchi was trying to determine through taste why the lemonade was so expensive, and almost choked to death when he heard these words.

Why didn’t he know that the original owner owed so much money?!

What kind of fate was this to be poor for two lifetimes, his debt increased tenfold after transmigrating?

The original owner had borrowed from more than a dozen loan sharks, so maybe he couldn’t remember the amount. They held his secrets and all kinds of information in their hands, walking on the edge of the law and daring to do anything for money.

Although Wang Chengjin was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, he was actually a local snake with connections and skills. He smelled a huge business opportunity —

This debt was quite messy, with many creditors and an amount that fluctuated erratically.

It was impossible for a busy boss to handle this mess in person. If he wanted to settle this chaotic bad debt, Mr. Li may need a “knowledgeable” right hand man.

A little kickback for this matter was worth millions. So relying on his thick skin and countless connections, Wang Chengjin finally contacted Li Chengyuan and assured him that it would be handled properly, and that all photos and information would be disposed of.

After Wang Chengjin made a quote, he quickly observed the situation, but saw that Li Chengyuan had remained calm and didn’t have a big reaction after hearing this.

The outcome was that the “little lover” sitting to the side could not sit still. Xia Xingchi was astonished and maddened: “Fifteen million? That’s impossible! Why would an ordinary person owe so much?!”

He had lived in the Xia residence for two days after transmigrating. Although the original owner had many luxuries that didn’t match his income, without investing or doing business, it was absolutely not possible to have so much money.

Wang Chengjin: “Some are gambling debts, and there is interest……this is a usury loan, the kind that doubles interest on a day-to-day basis.”

“Then are they not committing robbery?” Xia Xinchi said while pulling Li Chengyuan’s arm, “Usury is illegal. Li Chengyuan, we can’t pay back the money!”

Li Chengyuan deliberately kept silent, sounding out and silently observing Xia Xingchi’s words and reactions.

Now that some conjectures had been confirmed, he had more speculations about Xia Xingchi’s origins.

Wang Chengjin’s mood was not good. This “little lover” actually opposed it so fiercely?

He had wanted to take advantage of Mr. Li’s good relationship with Young Master Xia and extort him more. Who would have guessed that the person who came with him today was not Young Master Xia? This little lover was conceited due to being in the other’s good graces, using pillow talk to convince him not to pay back the “legitimate wife’s” money.

“This can’t be done!” Wang Chengjin hastened to remedy. “If you don’t pay back the money, or the police are called, even if the other party is caught, all the photos will be released and sent to everyone in Young Master Xia’s address book!”

Even if Xia Xingchi was not favored, Li Chengyuan wouldn’t want to lose face, right? He paid more than this for a single watch, and any ill-gotten leaked photo could earn a lot of money.

“But…..” Xia Xingchi gaped, feeling a sense of familiarity.

The original owner’s indecent photos were later exposed, and his career as a star was ruined — it turned out to be caused by this money?

If he didn’t want to be cannon fodder, he needed to avoid the countless pits that the original owner had stepped into, but he couldn’t help feeling at a loss. Let alone fifteen million, fifteen yuan could make him as distressed as if he was cutting flesh from his own body.

— How many veal steaks and milk cakes could that buy, ah!

As Xia Xingchi thought about it, he subconsciously glanced at the delicious food that he was coveting.

“Mr. Li, what do you think should be done?” Wang Chengjin turned his head and asked.

However, Li Chengyuan was still calm about these “serious” consequences, and only observed with interest the beautiful young man beside him who was struggling and thinking hard.

Wang Chengjin was dumbfounded, thinking to himself that this was simply foolishness!

He was indifferent to his fiance’s catastrophe, but instead listened to his little lover’s opinion?

Just as he was about to persuade him again, Li Chengyuan finally spoke, his tone seeming a little resigned: “Xia Xingchi, why are you being so stingy with yourself?”

“Because it is really too much money! And they’re breaking the law!”

While speaking, Xia Xingchi tilted his head and rubbed it against Li Chengyuan. Because a certain person had deliberately not stopped him before, he thought that they had to act as a couple and gradually became accustomed to it.

Wang Chengjin on the sidelines was stunned – Xia Xingchi? So he really was Young Master Xia……?!

But didn’t the rumors say he was average-looking and pudgy? No, no, no, this was not the point. The point was that he was about to share Mr. Li’s wealth. With so much money, how could he be so stingy!

Xia Xingchi rubbed his head so coquettishly that LiChengyuan was a little stiff and unnatural, his heart numb and itchy. But he didn’t push him away, and only pinched his ear lightly.

He made a lucky strike, and happened to grasp Xia Xingchi’s secret sensitive spot.

His earlobe was pinched by cool fingers, and his whole body suddenly trembled, his hands and feet going limp on the spot as if he had received an electric shock.

Immediately a little embarrassed, he remembered that they were “doing business” and had no choice but to endure it, thinking that he would have to tell Li Chengyuan not to touch that place in the future.

Li Chengyuan also noticed his abnormal reaction. He was taken aback for a moment, and then couldn’t help but want to pinch again.

Only then did he remember that there was an eyesore in the private booth, so he turned his head coldly and asked Wang Chengjin: “Do you have anything else to do?”

The double standard attitude was obvious.

Wang Chengjin knew that this was meant to drive away the guest. The boss had run out of patience, and his presence here was preventing them from flirting.

It was a challenge to negotiate this matter in one sitting. It was already good that Li Chengyuan was willing to see him, and there may be hope in the future.

Thus, he quickly left, not daring to be a third wheel for another second.

The booth fell silent.

Li Chengyuan was about to pinch that warm earlobe again, but Xia Xingchi suddenly took the initiative to “get off work.” Not only did he let go of his arm, but he also moved away.

Li Chengyuan: “……”

Perhaps one surnamed Wang should have been allowed to sit a little longer.

“My dear boss, you must have a solution, right?”

Xia Xingchi, who had a huge debt fall from the sky, looked over expectantly with a pair of big black eyes.

Even if Li Chengyuan was truly rich, his money didn’t fall from the sky either. Spending unjust money would make a little money-grubber feel especially distressed regardless of who it was spent on.

But of course it was not okay to just sit and wait for death and let indecent photos go flying around.

Xia Xingchi knew that the villain’s power was not only based on money, but was much more massive and inexplicable.

If he hadn’t died early due to poor health, he could have rewritten the original book as a “bad ending,” so it should be possible to solve this problem without wasting money.

When Li Chengyuan heard these words, he replied indifferently and without expression: “If you ask for help, you must display the attitude of asking for help.”

He had wanted to solve this trivial matter casually at first, but after thinking about it, he had a better plan.

In addition to probing Xia Xingchi’s reaction and identity, he had been waiting for this moment.

“Huh —” Xia Xingchi tilted his head. Although he was right, how could he have the correct “attitude” to repay the expensive favor of this big tycoon?

Just as he was thinking, he saw a cool, pale, slender hand clasp the menu in front of him and slowly knock twice. 

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi slapped his head: “I get it, you want to ask for a meal!”

“En.” Li Chengyuan nodded slightly, his expression calm and cold. “Sleep with me for another month.”

“Okay, no problem…..Ah?!” Xia Xingchi quaked.

He couldn’t believe his ears for a moment. The possibility of a misunderstanding in dialect flashed through his mind, and he suspected that he had heard it wrong.

It was a pity that a certain person not only had a deep and pleasant voice, but also had clear and standard pronunciation. He had obviously heard correctly.

“Li Chengyuan, you —” Dumbfounded, it took Xia Xingchi a long moment to regain his senses and get angry. “What do you mean!”

They had quarreled over this matter just yesterday, so he must be taking revenge by saying such things now.

Or did he want to prove that his so-called “strength of character” was no match for the catastrophe of this fifteen million debt?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he suddenly spouted off like a submachine gun: “I said I wouldn’t sell myself! If they want to publish the photos, they can publish them! Even if the face on the photos is now mine —”

The words came to an abrupt end here, and he realized at once that he had almost made a slip of the tongue in his anger, so he quickly shut up.

Li Chengyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the little angry hedgehog with its spikes sticking up, but he didn’t pursue this confusing and cryptic sentence.

He just asked indifferently: “Sleeping in the same bed counts as prostitution?”

His anger had already been half-frightened away by his slip of the tongue. Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment when he heard these words, and was too slow to be sure of their meaning.

“So you mean……actually sleeping?” He asked belatedly.

“Otherwise, what are you thinking about?” Li Chengyuan revealed a smile that was not a smile.

“I, I was also thinking that.”

Xia Xingchi blushed. It seemed that he lost his temper when he thought wrongly, and his guilt made him agree very quickly: “Okay then.”

Li Chengyuan lowered his head and took a sip of warm water to hide his triumphant smile.

This way, he didn’t have to go to his room to see him in the middle of the night, but could watch him at any time and even hold him in his arms.

Xia Xingchi spoke again: “But I don’t sleep very well.”

He always wanted to hug things when he fell asleep. What if he accidentally used the big villain as a pillow and he got angry when he woke up and beat him violently in the middle of the night?

He knew that Li Chengyuan’s sleep was very poor, and the book mentioned that when it got serious, he had to rely on sleeping pills every day to fall asleep.

Li Chengyuan didn’t give him any time to doubt, and directly made the final decision: “Bring your things to my room tonight – you order first.”

Xia Xingchi’s head was full of questions, and he was unable to solve them. He was at a loss when he saw the menu pushed in front of him.

The whole morning had been a tangle, and as expected, he had no time to mind him. Not only did he obliviously agree to the condition of the lamb entering the tiger’s den, but he was also blinded by all kinds of “sky-high” prices in the blink of an eye.

Since Li Chengyuan asked him to order, he could only bite the bullet and flip through the menu.

He felt his hands shaking more and more – even the cheapest ordinary sausage fried rice cost more than three hundred.

Xia Xingchi hesitated for a moment. Although this fried rice was relatively cheap, someone’s fragile glass stomach couldn’t handle greasy food.

Thinking of Li Chengyuan’s appearance when his stomach hurt, he couldn’t feed him indiscriminately just to save money.

His eyes finally stopped on a seemingly light and healthy seafood porridge, but he really couldn’t figure out why a bowl of porridge could sell for thousands.

In the past, this would cover his food expenses for more than half a year. The little money-grubber felt increasingly distressed as he thought about it, so he looked back and forth through the menu, hesitating over what to order.

Li Chengyuan sat next to him, seemingly expressionless, but in fact his eyes were full of malicious intentions. He vengefully wanted to make this little brat who only had money in his eyes feel distressed, spending money on him as if cutting flesh from his own body.

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Chapter Fifteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventeen

Zuo Ran was originally the daughter of the head guard serving the rich merchant Wang’s family. She had followed her father to practice martial arts since she was a child, and grew up with Wang-gongzi. But Wang-gonzi fell in love with the fire-burning girl at home. The old lady was very angry and forced him to marry his fiancee as soon as possible, planning to give Zuo Ran to him as a concubine.

This matter was known to Yin Pinglu, who was a concubine. She was calm and tranquil, and wrote an unauthorized letter of divorce, which was blocked by the magistrate.

Then something happened to Wang-gongzi. It turned out that the fire-burning girl had come to avenge her father, and after the two died together, Zuo Ran’s father was also executed by the old lady because of his incompetence. 

The magistrate completely canceled the marriage, but he was not idle, and planned to send Yin Pinglu to renew the marriage with an official who was over fifty years old.

Yin Pinglu didn’t want to be a vassal in the struggle for power and profit for the rest of her life, so she packed her bags and prepared to escape. However, she ran into Zuo Ran at the gate of the city. She thought that the other party was there to arrest her, but unexpectedly, she took the initiative to sit in the carriage, driving the horse to gallop away, and said: “I have no home……you’ve brought enough money, and as long as you take care of me, I will always protect you.”

The two went all the way north, wandering around the mountains and rivers, enjoying themselves leisurely until they met the ration team that was besieged by heavy rain on a blocked road. Yin Pinglu happened to be familiar with the terrain, so she took some soldiers to open the way and asked Zuo Ran to take a group to report to the large contingent and bring people to rescue them.

Thus, the two became acquainted with Yan Mingting.

Yan Mingting saw that the two of them had suffered some injuries due to this incident, so they stayed in the military hospital for treatment and Yin Pinglu suggested a few ideas from time to time to help the army fight. Yan Mingting laughed and called her a little think tank.

Zuo Ran also became friends with Zhong Yuehong and the others, spending all day in the military camp, practicing with them and going to the battlefield with them. It was only that she was unwilling to give her name, just wanting to be an unknown person so as not to be found by the Magistrate Yin.

After the war ended in victory, the two stayed at a small town on the border. Yan Mingting left some money for them so that the two could live and work there in peace. 

The good times didn’t last long, and the Magistrate still found them out there, taking Yin Pinglu away while Zuo Ran was out shopping. When she returned home, she found a mess and a note left by Yin Pinglu in the dark – “My father’s people. Quickly go to the General.”

Zuo Ran had been on the road day and night. The skin on both sides of her thighs was worn away, she barely had time to swallow anything but her saliva, and she had hardly closed her eyes.

“General, only you can help us.” Zuo Ran burst into tears and said, “Her father has power and authority. We don’t know anyone more powerful than him, so I’m begging you.”

“Don’t worry, ba, we will find a way.” Yan Mingting patted her on the shoulder to calm her down.

It was easy to say such a thing, but a little troublesome to actually accomplish. As the saying went, even an honest and upright official would have difficulty resolving a family dispute. It was unreasonable for a general far away in the capital to meddle in the family affairs of a prefectural magistrate out of the blue.

It could be said that the magistrate’s daughter was already promised in marriage, and no one would object to him taking her back to marry her off.

Would it be possible to tell the world that Yin Pinglu didn’t want to get married at all, and that she and Zuo Ran could support each other until they grew old?

Would anyone believe it?

They would think that it was a big joke, that it violated the three principles and five virtues.^[1] How could there be a woman who did not marry?

Public opinion would only turn in favor of the magistrate.

“Is it not simple?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Everyone looked at him together and heard him say: “Go and ask the magistrate to betroth his daughter to you, then you can intervene in this matter openly and aboveboard. If Magistrate Yin fears your notoriety as an evil star, he will not agree to this matter. If he is not afraid, you can simply get her through the door and let Zuo-guniang live in the General’s Mansion as a maid. This time they would both be protected, and no outsiders would know what goes on inside the General’s Mansion.”

When He Cuizhang heard this, he also thought it was feasible. In any case, only the people who were close to them would know about the situation inside. The General would not touch them, and no one would dare to bully Yin Pinglu and Zuo Ran in the future.

Yan Mingting, however, said: “I don’t agree.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him, calm and unruffled.

“Although I wouldn’t do anything to them, they escaped because they didn’t want to become vassals and servants. How could they return to the same fate?” Yan Mingting said.

Zuo Ran nodded heavily.

Zhao Yelan raised his brows. He didn’t expect him to reject a simple, effective, and harmless solution for the reason of putting himself in the shoes of these two women. He was confounded, and at the same time felt unavoidable admiration. This was the magnanimous Yan Mingting, ah.

“Let me look at the map first.” Zhao Yelan took out the map in his pocket, and as soon as he unfolded it, they saw the big turtle on the map.

Several people: “……?”

Zhao Yelan’s face froze. He immediately crumpled it into a ball of paper and threw it aside, saying: “Is there a more detailed map in the study?”

“There is.” Yan Mingting glanced at the ball of paper curiously, feeling that the turtle was himself. After all, Zhao Yelan had painted it on his face before. While guessing when and where the other party drew it, he rummaged through boxes to find a map of the Xuan Dynasty that his father had drawn before, which was very detailed.

“Found it!” He took the map out of a drawer and unfolded it on the desktop.

“How long did it take Zuo-guniang to return to Beijing?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“Five days,” answered Zuo Ran.

“Starting from the border town, you, a woman, traveled all the way through the deserts and mountains, and it only took five days for you to reach the capital. This is certainly not easy. The Magistrate’s men must not be rushing as hard as you. If they go at a normal pace and follow the official roads, they must still be in the area of Quzhou. The terrain there is complicated, and the official roads are all built into the hillside, so it is not easy to travel. There should still be ten days before they arrive in Huaizhou.” Zhao Yelan pointed at the map as he made his analysis.

Zuo Ran let go of the fearful uncertainty she had been holding onto all this time. In ten days, they would definitely be able to rescue Yin Pinglu before she got married!

“What if they don’t follow the official roads?” Yan Mingting pointed to another remote path. “From here, Quzhou is directly bypassed, and it should take seven or eight days to get there if they travel overnight.”

“Even if we arrive in Huaizhou in seven or eight days, Magistrate Yin may not be busy with the concubine’s marriage right away.” Zhao Yelan glanced at him, pointing to the route to the south of the capital. “Look at this route again.”

Yan Mingting thought for a moment and suddenly realized: “The teams transporting the disaster relief money are about to arrive in Huaizhou and Zhizhou, and he will soon commence this important matter of the court.”

“Exactly. If you want to go south to suppress the bandits, you will definitely have to set off the day after tomorrow. After arriving in Huaizhou, the excuse of being old acquaintances can be used to temporarily take Yin-guniang out of the manor, and you can make arrangements for the future according to the specific situation,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Thank you, Zhao-daren!” Zuo Ran was very grateful.

“Go back and rest first. Seeing you like this, you must not have slept well last night. Take a good rest these two days, adjust yourself, and then go south with me,” Yan Mingting ordered.

“Yes, I’m going to rest now!” The stone in Zuo Ran’s heart was put down, and she felt a lot more at ease. She turned around and went back to the room to catch up on sleep.

“General, then I……”

“You first send a few teams south today, and then go talk to the Ministry of War again.”

“Yes!” He Cuizhang took the order and hurriedly left the General’s Mansion.

There were only two people left in the room. Zhao Yelan put away the map and stuffed it into his sleeve casually. This map was much more detailed and effective than the one he drew from memory, and it would definitely be more useful in the future.

“I just wanted to ask, could the turtle you drew above be……” Yan Mingting picked up the ball of paper and asked cautiously, “Could it be……”

“Don’t bother guessing, it’s you,” Zhao Yelan said frankly.

“Why are you painting me again, ah? Where did I offend you?” Yan Mingting looked at him aggrievedly.

Seeing this, Zhao Yelan’s mood improved slightly and the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl up: “I just wanted to paint, do I need a reason?”

Yan Mingting shrugged unconcernedly and put it away with a smile: “Ai, you affirm with your lips but deny with your heart.”

“I what?”

Yan Mingting walked in front of him and arched his eyebrows: “You looked at the map and counted the days. So much trouble, isn’t it just to convince us to set off at a later date?”

“You originally planned to leave the day after tomorrow?” Zhao Yelan looked up at him.

“Yes, the Emperor wanted me to leave tomorrow, but I deliberately postponed it for a day.” There was a hint of a smile in Yan Mingting’s eyes, but it was as bright as the sun shining onto his head. “Because tomorrow is my birthday, and I want to spend this year’s birthday with you.”

The hand hanging by Zhao Yelan’s side pulled back slightly.

“Do you also want me to celebrate my birthday with you before leaving?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan didn’t speak, but the other party took a step closer, caging him in by the table, and he admitted straightforwardly: “Yes.”

Although it was the expected answer, after hearing his confession, Yan Mingting still couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his chest as if he was about to burn up. He restrained his pounding heart and smiled, saying: “I’ve never looked forward to my birthday so much.”

Zhao Yelan returned to the Imperial Academy preoccupied and disinterested in politics. From time to time, Yan Mingting’s expectant look flashed before his eyes, and he couldn’t help but wonder: what kind of expression would appear on that face after he left?

Fortunately, time would heal all wounds. Even if he would be sad for a while, Yan Mingting should also recover soon. The most important thing right now was to spend his birthday with him.

“You’ve been restless all day, are you really all right?” Ruan Xian asked worriedly.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Didn’t you notice that your book is upside down?”

“……” Zhao Yelan calmly turned the book around.

“I lied, you just now put the book upside down.”

“…………” Zhao Yelan gave him a sharp look. “Go away.”

Ruan Xian didn’t intend to go away at all, and started to guess: “Recently, everything in the Imperial Academy has been normal, as well as in the court, so what is it that makes you so unsettled? These few days……by the way, tomorrow is General Yan’s birthday, right?”

“How do you know?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“You are confused, ah, everyone knows the birthday of General Yan. After all, many people are thinking of……” Ruan Xian lowered his voice and said, “Currying favor with him.”

Indeed, his thoughts were very confused. He even forgot such a simple truth, believing that he was the only one who knew about this day.

It seemed that there would be a lot of excitement in the mansion tomorrow. What sorts of gifts could be given that would not be the same as others?

“What are you going to give?” Zhao Yelan asked him.

“I wanted to ask you, what does General Yan usually like?” Ruan Xian asked.

“All kinds of weapons.”

“Anything else?”

“Tanghulu.”

“Uh……anything else?”

Me. Does that count?

Zhao Yelan’s mind shifted, and he inwardly spurned his own wild thoughts.

“You can figure it out, ba.” Zhao Yelan himself was still worried.

When he returned to the mansion, Zuo Ran was still sleeping. It seemed that she wanted to make up for her lack of sleep these past few days all at once.

Yan Mingting said not to disturb her, and after dinner with Zhao Yelan, he went back to the room and pretended to read The Art of War while secretly observing Zhao Yelan’s movements.

He saw Zhao Yelan open a brocade box, take out a wooden hairpin from inside, wrap it properly in a handkerchief, and then put it away carefully.

Zhao Yelan suddenly looked over, and Yan Mingting looked away at once. On the surface, he read The Art of War seriously, but in his heart he wondered what kind of congratulatory gift this was. Regardless, it didn’t matter if it was a wooden hairpin or a gold or silver hairpin as long as it could bind the hair.

Zhao Yelan put away his mother’s belongings so that they could be taken away with him. When Yan Mingting left the day after tomorrow, he would go back to the Zhao mansion and take his parents’ ashes.

He walked around the room while deciding what to take away.

Yan Mingting saw him pick up a knife for a moment, then drop it and change to a sword, repeating this until he finally sat by the bed with a sigh.

Yan Mingting really wanted to tell him: I like them all! I love these knives and weapons! Give whatever you want, don’t sigh!

However, Zhao Yelan fell into deep thought. With so many weapons, he couldn’t use anything. It would be wasted on more than twenty of him, and he couldn’t even lift the dueling sword. In the end, he may still just have to bring his small crossbow.

In the end, Yan Mingting saw him pick up a stack of ledgers and begin to look through them by candlelight. The entirety of the family property was contained within.

Yan Mingting was extremely excited – could it be that Zhao Yelan, an old money fanatic, was going to give him all the family property?!

Seeing him frowning while checking the accounts, Yan Mingting thought that there was no need to worry about it. If he really didn’t want to part with something, it was fine not to give it. Anyway, he wouldn’t take so much property, the thought itself was already touching!

Zhao Yelan was indeed very worried. There was so much money, enough to squander in another lifetime, but alas, he didn’t have another lifetime.

“Don’t you go to bed early?” Yan Mingting was distressed for his eyes. He had been busy with his congratulatory gift up to this point, and he hurriedly urged him to go to bed.

Zhao Yelan rubbed the space between his brows. When the other party went to the kitchen, he put away the ledger, which he also had to take away. But it was possible to save a little for Yan Mingting to let him buy a bunch of tanghulu.

After he took a bath, Yan Mingting returned to the room holding a few freshly made stuffed steamed buns and said: “Come and try my buns, I learned from Shopkeeper Minji last time.”

“You just made buns?” Zhao Yelan walked over in astonishment.

“En, you’ve been busy all night and must be hungry. Eat something first, and we’ll eat better things tomorrow.” Yan Mingting picked the biggest one and handed it to him.

Zhao Yelan accepted it in disbelief and took a few slow bites.

“How is it?” Yan Mingting looked at him expectantly.

Zhao Yelan directly brought the one in his hand to the other’s mouth. Yan Mingting was stunned, and when he lowered his head, his gaze inadvertently swept across his chest.

The weather had become hot, and Zhao Yelan only wore a white undershirt after bathing. The chest was open, and when he stretched out his hand, it hung down to reveal a small piece of fair skin, incredibly white.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter!

Yan Mingting took a deep breath, and then a big bite of steamed bun. As he ate, his expression became ugly.

“Thick skin and undercooked stuffing. You need to practice more.” Zhao Yelan held back a smile, and was about to take another bite when Yan Mingting snatched it away.

“Don’t eat it, be careful not to get an upset stomach.” Yan Mingting threw away the rest of the stuffed steamed buns and solemnly promised, “Next time. I will definitely succeed in making them next time!”

Next time……

Zhao Yelan nodded and lay down on the bed sleepily. He heard the sound of the other party making his bed, the sound of candles being extinguished, and the sound of even breathing.

In the early hours of the morning, Zhao Yelan was still unable to sleep, but a rustling sound was heard.

Yan Mingting knelt down beside the bed and poked Zhao Yelan’s face: “Mengting, wake up.”

Zhao Yelan opened clear eyes and propped himself up with his hands, black hair hanging behind him as he looked at him in the hazy moonlight: “What is it?”

“It’s time.” Yan Mingting was all smiles.

Their gazes met, and although the light was not much, Zhao Yelan seemed to see his eyes shining. The corners of his own eyes unknowingly carried a hint of a smile as he whispered: “Yan Fangli, happy birthday.”

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[1] The three rules are: “Ruler guides subject, father guides son, and husband guides wife.” The five virtues are: “Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Fidelity.” ⮐

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Chapter Forty-Six <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Eight

The scene was dead silent for a while.

What was abominable was that after tossing about, Li Chengyuan finally exhausted his strength, swayed, and fell straight down. This left Xia Xingchi alone to try his best to explain that the two of them were not performing content prohibited to those under eighteen.

But Dr. Zhao only jokingly said “An explanation is a cover-up,” with an expression as if he had discovered a new world, making Xia Xingchi even more embarrassed. Incidentally, he strongly doubted that this crooked “doctor” who was wearing pajamas and cotton slippers was really reliable.

Fortunately, Zhao Yinhe’s proficiency successfully proved that he was fairly trustworthy. Xia Xingchi heaved a sigh of relief and then became angry, wanting to curse Li Chengyuan, that instigator.

Unexpectedly, this person was now so fragile that one dared not touch or scold him —

The stomach medicine didn’t seem to have worked. Li Chengyuan’s face was pale, his long eyelashes were moist with cold sweat, and he was curled up while gritting his teeth silently.

“It looks like stomach cramps.” Zhao Yinhe lifted the bottle. “He vomited even after taking the medicine, so we can only try to make him lie flat, apply hot compresses, or give him a gentle massage.”

Speaking of taking medicine, Xia Xingchi had been very worried that he would be poisoned after taking so many antipyretics, but the result was that he staggered into the bathroom and vomited in the dark as soon as an IV was attached.

The intravenous drip had to be reinserted into a different arm.

Seeing him in pain at this moment, Xia Xingchi unconsciously clenched his fists. He had no choice but to reach out and grip his ice-cold fingers, using the other hand to gently help him rub his stomach.

After Zhao Yinhe finished his work, he began idling again and immersed himself in the suspected romantic scene just moments ago. He was honestly shaken for a long time and couldn’t extricate himself —

Although Mr. Zhao had seen plenty of erotic scenes, if the other party was Li Chengyuan, who was like an ironwood tree, then it was a different matter.

Therefore, when Xia Xingchi turned his head, he saw the teasing expressions of “You love him so much” and “He loves you so much” written all over the face of this casual and familiar doctor.

He even smiled ambiguously and said: “If his fever hasn’t subsided after taking the antipyretic injection, you can help him take a bath. The physical cooling effect is very good.”

It was true that antipyretics were almost useless to Li Chengyuan, who was gradually becoming resistant to them. They were almost pointless apart from making his stomach hurt more, and only physical cooling could be used instead.

But from Zhao Yinhe’s mouth, these words were quite indecent.

Xia Xingchi was rather skeptical of this unreliable doctor’s methods, suspecting that he was only forcing his hand to get the two to cooperate together: “Really? Has anyone cooled him down like this before?”

“Of course not!” Zhao Yinhe only thought that the lawfully wedded wife was drinking vinegar. “Don’t worry, who else would dare to strip him naked and take a bath?”

The two were not on the same channel at all. Xia Xingchi was astonished: “Then he’s had such a fever before? What should we do if his body temperature can’t be lowered?”

Even an iron-strong body couldn’t stand continuous high fevers, not to mention Li Chengyuan’s fragile condition. Could it be that he died like this?

In the past two days, he had tried his best to observe what disease had caused Li Chengyuan’s mortal end, so that he could find a loophole and let him live longer. But looking at it now, this was not checking for leaks and filling in the gaps, this was simply Nuwa mending the heavens, ah.^[1]

– – –

“Uncle Ding, go to sleep.” Xia Xingchi patted his chest. “Don’t worry, I will pull out the IV and stand guard over him tonight.”

Uncle Ding had just sent Zhao Yinhe out, and when he heard these words upon his return, he was almost moved to tears on the spot —

Whoever dared to spread rumors about Young Master Xia’s selfishness and indulgence, he must be the first to knock the other person’s brains out!

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi was a little embarrassed, and thought to himself how bad the reputation of the original owner was. Wasn’t it a matter of course to take care of one’s fiance?

So he touched the back of his neck shyly and said with a smile: “I should take care of him. He’s my fiance, after all, and I love him.”

It couldn’t be helped, the money he gave was too much. Who couldn’t fall in love with a monthly salary of one million and such a generous donor?

Only by providing the highest quality hospice care and preventing Li Chengyuan from falling from grace and dying with hatred as in the book, could the little money-grubber Xia inherit his legacy with a clear conscience.

He was also worried that Li Chengyuan would keep silent if his condition worsened in the middle of the night, or would go crazy and take medicine again.

No wonder the medicine box was kept in the living room. If it was not antipyretics, but nitroglycerin or something tonight, it would be too late to save him. Who would have thought that the word “madman” actually meant “foolish” in Li Chengyuan’s case.

Li Chengyuan was indeed not a burden on anyone at all. Not to mention the gradual drop in body temperature, he was so uncomfortable that he was able to stay silent and not move for the entire night.

Such was the case that Xia Xingchi accidentally fell asleep after removing the IV for him, then woke up in the middle of the night to find him motionless, and was so frightened that he hurriedly felt to make sure he was still breathing and warm.

– – –

It was dawn when Li Chengyuan slowly opened his eyes.

It was rare that he didn’t have the usual chills and stomach ache after a high fever, but instead felt warm and comfortable. He was unused to it.

When he fell ill, he would not completely black out. After waking up, he gradually recalled the absurd events of the previous night. All at once, he realized that Xia Xingchi had witnessed all the embarrassment and ugliness of his illness that he had carefully hidden during the onset, and froze as if struck by a lightning bolt.

……Had Xia Xingchi been frightened? Did he feel disgusted?

Li Chengyuan frowned and tried to get up, but suddenly felt a soft, warm hand across his abdomen. The warmth all over his body was actually because Xia Xingchi was leaning into his arms, holding him tightly.

Because Xia Xingchi felt him move, although he was in a drowsy sleep, he immediately rubbed his stomach in a circular motion on conditioned reflex, and murmured softly as if he wanted to say something comforting.

The force was very light, like a feather brushing the apex of his heart, slightly itchy and tingling.

Li Chengyuan’s slender fingers curled up slightly as he stared expressionlessly at the beautiful young man who was sleeping soundly.

After a long while, he leaned over slightly and laid a light kiss on his smooth forehead, careful and cherishing.

No matter before or now, this little liar always had the ability to make people fall easily. Knowing that he loved money and he himself had been thoroughly cheated once, he still couldn’t help being moved again and again.

Li Chengyuan took a deep breath. When he thought of these things, he nearly gritted his teeth, and looked at Xia Xingchi silently for a long time, his emotions complicated —

In the end, he directly lifted the person out of the bed!

Xia Xingchi had been sleeping soundly. Suddenly, like a little hedgehog pulled out of the nest, he opened his eyes and met the gloomy gaze of the big villain. Confused and terrified, he was so frightened that his soul exited his body on the spot, and his eyes widened. He didn’t dare to move.

Although Li Chengyuan was so beautiful that he was almost seductive, his face and eyes were very cold, and he didn’t look feminine at all. He seemed even more grim when his face was expressionless, lacking anger but still intimidating. It was very scary.

— What the hell! Why is Li Chengyuan in my bed!

He was dazed for a few seconds before coming to his senses and realizing the situation. Xia Xingchi hurriedly said: “Wait! Let me go, this is really a misunderstanding!”

Last night, they had a quarrel over the topic of “going to bed,” and he’d said something like, “I’ll sleep with you tonight if you pay me” in a fit of anger, but just happened to “sleep” in his bed today.

Judging from this person’s appearance, it should be that he didn’t remember what happened after he got sick, so he must think that he was deliberately blackmailing him.

Xia Xingchi clarified forcefully: “Boss Li, what happened last night was what I should do with a monthly salary of a million!”

He was a little money-grubber with a bottom line. It was his duty to take care of his sick benefactor. Of course he couldn’t charge a separate fee and profit from his misfortune.

Li Chengyuan was not happy at all when he heard these words, and his face became even more gloomy —

Again it was because of money. This meticulous care and concern was really just in the name of money. He didn’t even hide it, and said it out loud.

“Get out.” An unknown fire surged again, and Li Chengyuan gritted his teeth.

Although this person’s attitude of turning his face and refusing to recognize anyone after “getting out of bed” was truly abominable, these were the words that Xia Xingchi loved to hear most, and he trundled out happily.

Unexpectedly, he had just taken a step forward when he heard a deep voice behind him: “Wait a minute. Go change clothes, we’re going out later.”

– – –

The car was very quiet.

Xia Xingchi glanced nervously at Li Chengyuan beside him. He had only drank some porridge millet for breakfast and probably still felt unwell. He didn’t know why he wasn’t resting at home.

Words of concern reached his lips, but Xia Xingchi swallowed them back. Presently, Li Chengyuan didn’t look as if someone had stepped on his tail, but rather that someone had pulled his tail and didn’t let go. His expression was full of irritability.

Even driver Xiao Wu felt that something was wrong. Thinking that the boss and his wife were quarreling, he quickly lowered his sense of existence with trepidation, for fear that he would become collateral damage.

Xia Xingchi could only express his innocence. Who dared to quarrel with this grumpy scumbag? Who worked so hard to take care of him for half the night? And today he turned his face and didn’t even say where they were going.

As a “contract partner,” Xia Xingchi had no choice but to sit in the car ignorantly. Although he didn’t know what they were doing, he estimated that they would be acting like a loving couple in a while.

The car slowly came to a stop, and outside was a rather high-end Western restaurant. Xia Xingchi was drowsy, and when he opened his eyes to this scene, he thought in a trance that he was there to work as a waiter.

The doorman opened the car door for him, and Xia Xingchi realized that he was indeed here to “work,” so he quickly got on the job and took the initiative to pull Li Chengyuan out.

He had never been in a relationship and didn’t know how couples were supposed to get along, so he could only recall content from TV shows. After some thought, he obediently rubbed his head against Li Chengyuan’s arm.

Li Chengyuan froze slightly, not understanding what Xia Xingchi was doing.

He figured it out after a moment, but deliberately didn’t tell him that there was no business today, and just patted his head — he had wanted to touch this little soft-furred hedgehog, and finally got the opportunity today.

A man in a suit and leather shoes paced forward at the door, smiling and greeting them attentively: “Mr. Li, you actually came here in person. You flatter me, ah.”

After speaking, Wang Chengjin looked aside at Xia Xingchi and saw that he was charming and handsome, unlike the long-rumored “Xia Xingchi” who was short and chunky.

Could this be Li Chengyuan’s little lover?

Thinking of this, Wang Chengjin’s well-thought-out plan to make a fortune had fallen through a bit, but he just nodded, bowed calmly, and led Li Chengyuan all the way to the private room.

It was unavoidable that an old fox’s bad habits would be hard to change. First, he flattered with all his might, and then talked about other things without just cutting to the point.

Xia Xingchi sat listening on the sidelines, mystified and bored, so he lowered his head to study the menu. When he opened it, he was unexpectedly blinded by the ridiculously expensive prices. The cheapest lemonade cost 30 yuan, which was just a money grab…..the problem was, this thing had been served automatically?!

He picked up the lemonade tremblingly, took a sip to suppress his shock, and silently closed the menu, pushing it a little farther away.

Lest he accidentally look at the top image again and be greedy for the horribly priced veal steak and milk cake.

No one would have guessed that he wouldn’t order because he couldn’t bear it. After all, how could someone next to the boss be short of money?

Li Chengyuan gave him a faint look, knowing that he was being habitually stingy again. He couldn’t help feeling that it was a little laughable. It wasn’t like he was spending his own money, so what was he trying to save?

Just looking at the menu, he could guess what this person was craving. Li Chengyuan was about to order something for him, but suddenly had another idea in mind.

So while Xia Xingchi thought he was quietly browsing the menu, Li Chengyuan calmly pretended not to be aware, and let him bite his lip eagerly like a little glutton.

---

[1] Nuwa is a well-known goddess in Chinese mythology who was the mother and creator of the world. ⮐

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Chapter Fourteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixteen

The pictures filling his brain gradually became unsuitable for children. Xia Xingchi quickly shook his head and suddenly wanted to ask himself, what should my role be?

Twice in a row, Li Chengyuan had pulled at him while unconscious and refused to let him go. He must have identified the wrong person, so there was obviously only one truth —

I look a lot like his White Moonlight!

It all made sense now. No wonder Li Chengyuan didn’t stop the engagement according to the original plot after meeting him, but even offered him a monthly salary of one million to hire him to live with him.

Xia Xingchi had transmigrated with his original body and knew that he was different from the original owner. Li Chengyuan’s so-called “love at first sight” that day must be because he looked suitable as a substitute the moment he saw him!

Xia Xingchi was shocked when he realized that he had entered a new role without knowing it.

In any case, it was not the life of the protagonist, who was awful at first glance, and being a stand-in was better than being cannon fodder. If he performed well, he wouldn’t be doomed.

Li Chengyuan muttered to himself for a moment, and finally let go of his hand in a stupor. Seeing this, he quickly tiptoed out of the room and hurried downstairs to apply for foreign aid.

– – –

Before he could knock, the door to Uncle Ding’s room opened in front of him. The old man had been awakened by the movement upstairs and was about to go out and check: “Young Master, what is the matter? Is Sir sick again?”

Xia Xingchi immediately nodded as if grasping a lifeline: “He has a fever! I mentioned contacting a doctor, but he didn’t cooperate at all and wouldn’t tell me the phone number.”

Uncle Ding understood: “Don’t worry, Young Master, I’ll call Dr. Zhao now, and he’ll be here soon.”

After thinking about it, he added: “Go and rest first, I’ll take care of it.”

Xia Xingchi immediately shook his head, expressing that he would guard Li Chengyuan.

He didn’t dare go to sleep. After all, he knew that Li Chengyuan could die at any moment. He was very nervous when he saw that he was sick, for fear that when he woke up, he would find that such a big fiance was already gone.

Uncle Ding couldn’t help being a little surprised. It was already three o’clock in the morning, but Xia Xingchi wasn’t impatient at all, and his worried expression didn’t have any elements of acting.

Long before the engagement, there were rumors that he was cowardly and selfish, and that he dared to mutter, “I don’t want to take care of a short-lived sick child,” and “I don’t want to marry, why is Li Chengyuan still alive?”

After their short contact two days ago, Uncle Ding felt that the rumors could not be fully believed, and may have been fabricated by someone.

Now it seemed that it really was a deliberate fabrication, and Young Master Xia was not like that at all.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and explained: “Don’t worry, Sir gets sick easily this time of the year, but he recovers quickly.”

The subtext was a hope that Xia Xingchi wouldn’t find it bothersome. He didn’t fall ill often, and never troubled others when he was sick.

The attitudes of others would not affect the current Li Chengyuan, but if Xia Xingchi loathed him, it would definitely be a fatal blow to the person who had just overcome his psychological barriers.

Xia Xingchi would naturally never be so cold-blooded. He just pointed to his head worriedly to signal Uncle Ding: “Li Chengyuan seems to be —”

Uncle Ding immediately took his meaning, and hesitated for a moment before saying: “Sir has been a little stimulated before, so he occasionally gets confused and thinks he is in the old house……but it has rarely happened in the past two years.”

The summary was overly rough, but Xia Xingchi had no choice but to nod faintly.

The original novel didn’t go over the big boss’s childhood experiences in detail. There was only a brief description:

It was said that Li Chengyuan had been a madman since he was a child, and was even able to sleep peacefully while guarding his mother’s body all night.

Thinking about it now, his mother had hanged herself, and the horror of her death must have been terrible.

What was Li Chengyuan’s state of mind at that time, to be able to watch his next of kin struggle like crazy due to an instinctive desire to survive, and eventually become so ferocious and terrifying that his original appearance could no longer be distinguished?

Although this was used to prove the fact that he was an insane villain, after getting along with him these two days, Xia Xingchi felt that he was not so deranged and that perhaps there was something more to it.

But he must have had a bad time anyway, otherwise someone wouldn’t become so paranoid and twisted for no rhyme or reason.

Xia Xingchi regained his composure with a sigh, then turned to Uncle Ding and said: “You call first, the hot water seems to be ready. I’ll go up and see if Li Chengyuan has taken any antipyretics.”

Uncle Ding paused in the middle of dialing the number, his expression stunned: “Antipyretics? Where did you get the antipyretics?”

“Huh? I just took them from the drawer in his room……” Xia Xingchi choked on his words. The cause and effect were clearly presented, and he had a very bad intuition!

— Why were there no fever reducers in the medicine cabinet? Why were they hidden in such an inconspicuous little drawer along with painkillers, sedatives, and other medicines?

Xia Xingchi immediately rushed upstairs, his heart in his throat.

Upon hastily pushing open the door, everything appeared to look very normal. Li Chengyuan seemed to be fully awake, reclined quietly in bed and back to his usual indifference.

But the more normal this situation was, the more Xia Xingchi’s already bad intuition rose toward its peak.

Taking a closer look, Li Chengyuan was chewing something with a numb face like he was eating candy —

In his hand, there was an entire empty board of antipyretics, and this person who was particularly afraid of bitterness was breaking off the last one at this time and putting it in his mouth expressionlessly.

“I……Fuck…..” 

Except for these two, Xia Xingchi couldn’t find any words to sum up his horrified mood for a moment, and was so frightened by this scene that his soul flew away.

He tremblingly asked: “Li Chengyuan, what’s wrong with you……”

Li Chengyuan raised his deep amber eyes, staring straight at the intruder while hiding the medicine in his hand like a child.

“Get out.”

His expression was intimidating, and his strong aura and tone were the same as usual.

Xia Xingchi almost thought he had recovered, and went to take a step back and leave.

But as soon as he thought about it, he felt something was wrong, so he rushed forward several steps!

He directly reached out to grasp Li Chengyuan’s wrist and went to grab the last pill in a belated attempt at damage control. As to the reason for his madness, they could only discuss it later.

Although Xia Xingchi knew that this person had strength that was quite inconsistent with his appearance, he never thought that with a high fever and illness, he would be so difficult to deal with.

To compare the two, he was no match at all. Not only did he fail to get the medicine, but he was directly dragged down on the bed.

Xia Xingchi had originally assumed a commanding position, but now it had turned into being pressed down hard on the bed and thrashing as he rolled back and forth to fight with Li Chengyuan.

The brain circuits of a crazy man were really incomprehensible. Xia Xingchi was concentrating on grabbing the medicine, but he saw that the white pill that had been clutched so tightly just now, like a life-saving medicine, had been thrown to the ground like trash by Li Chengyuan.

With a crisp sound, it even bounced twice.

And it was between those two clacking sounds that Xia Xingchi suddenly realized he had become the new target of the crazy villain!

Li Chengyuan’s body was burning hot, but his fingertips were cold.

With such strength that it was impossible to resist, he clasped Xia Xingchi’s left shoulder with one hand, and restrained his right hand with the other. Immediately after, he promptly bullied him, bending down to press Xia Xingchi under him!

In the chaos, there was only one thought: “Catch him.” Li Chengyuan gritted his teeth and clamped down on Xia Xingchi tightly, refusing to relax at all. It was as if he would disappear without a trace if he released his grip.

As soon as Xia Xingchi raised his head to meet his terrifying gaze full of unconcealed possessive desire, he shrank down instantly and could only struggle desperately to push him away.

For fuck’s sake, this guy was definitely mistaken again. Don’t spread all your hatred for the White Moonlight onto an innocent scapegoat, ah!

The battle was fierce, and neither paid attention to the footsteps and conversation at the door: “Fever? Has he caught a cold recently? I have already said these days – ahhhh!”

The rest of his words cut off, leaving only a shocked exclamation.

The young Dr. Zhao, who was carrying a medical kit and dressed casually, pushed open the door: The two people on the bed were entangled in a strange posture, with their ten fingers even interlocking.

Crouching to the side and watching for a long time was a white cat ball with a curious face, observing the strange behavior of these two humans.

It seemed to be thinking that it wasn’t spring yet, and wondering why they couldn’t wait.

“You…..!!” The battle was so shocking that Zhao Yinhe could hardly speak from the fright.

Although they became a legal couple immediately, and it was late at night in their own bed, and the time, place, and participants were all right……

Since this was the case, what was he doing here?!

T/N: Posting this early since I won’t have time tomorrow. This hourly wage slave has a big project due before I go on vacation.

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Chapter Thirteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifteen

The mansion was already busy heating water and cleaning a wing of the house. Zhao Yelan stood in the courtyard watching servants hurrying to and fro. Those not in the know might have thought that a new master was about to enter.

Yan Mingting took the woman to her wing of the house and asked her to take a bath before discussing matters, then went to inform the other lieutenants and invited a doctor on the way.

This business had nothing to do with Zhao Yelan, so he picked up a fishing rod and went to fish in the back courtyard’s fish pond. After an incense stick of time passed, he hadn’t caught a single one. With his face sinking lower than the fish pond, he quickly retracted the fishing line and threw it aside angrily.

Xiao Gao picked it up for him again and began to roll up the legs of his trousers: “My lord, do you want me to go down and get you a few like the General did? Do you want to eat some?”

“No need.” Zhao Yelan spoke with a dark face, and when he heard footsteps behind him, he looked furiously at the fish pond.

“It’s getting dark, why did you come here to fish?” Yan Mingting asked.

“Who stipulated that you can’t fish when it’s dark? Do you understand the concept of night fishing?” Zhao Yelan said snappily.

“Okay, I don’t comprehend your sophistication.” Yan Mingting really thought he was delaying his business, so he warned, “Then don’t forget to have dinner later, I’ll go to the front courtyard to check on the situation first.”

Zhao Yelan turned around angrily, but found that he had already turned to leave.

The sun sank, leaving only the last bit of gray in the sky, which fell into darkness in the blink of an eye. Zhao Yelan sat quietly by the fish pond for a while, listening to the movement in the front courtyard. It wasn’t until Xiao Gao began to slap mosquitos to remind him to go back to the house that he stood up and began to walk slowly out of the back courtyard.

“Oh, my lord, have you finished fishing? Go quickly and eat, we’ve been waiting for you.” Housekeeper Qin had come to look for him, and hurriedly led him to the main hall.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard murmurs of conversation. When he stepped over, the conversation stopped. The woman regarded him vigilantly, and gave a shaky nod in a show of friendliness.

There were many good dishes on the table, but no one moved their chopsticks.

“You’re here, sit down quickly, ba.” Seeing him coming, Yan Mingting stood up and pulled out a chair for him.

Zhao Yelan took a seat and looked at the woman calmly. After taking a bath, she had changed into a maid’s clothes and her whole person looked completely refreshed. It was only that her eyes still looked a little red. Yan Mingting comforted her: “It’s all right, wait until after dinner and we will discuss it and figure out a way.”

The woman nodded, but she didn’t have any appetite. She put down the bowl and chopsticks after two mouthfuls, apologized, and hurried back to her room.

Yan Mingting gazed in the direction she had left and sighed. When he turned back, he noticed Zhao Yelan’s gloomy gaze and made introductions: “Her name is Zuo Ran, a friend I met at the border.”

Oh, a friend at the border, ah. Hurrying all the way back to the capital, there must really be deep feelings.

Yan Mingting: “She also participated in combat, and she is as good at martial arts as Zhong Yuehong. But she didn’t want fame, so she didn’t go back to Beijing with us before, concealing her credit.”

Oh, a good woman who doesn’t care about fame and is also good at martial arts. She is the perfect match for you, ah.

Yan Mingting: “We met because she went out with her friend and encountered a team delivering military rations that was trapped, so she helped them and sent them to the front lines just in time, saving all of our lives.”

Oh, there was also a life debt, so shouldn’t it be repaid with gratitude?

Yan Mingting ate two mouthfuls of food in a hurry, and suddenly heard Zhao Yelan ask: “Does she like you, or do you like her?”

“Pfft –” Yan Mingting almost spit out the contents of his mouth. Caught off guard, he choked and beat his chest heavily.

“General! Zuo Ran is here? General, what is wrong with you!” As He Cuizhang rushed in, he continued to yell.

There were several other lieutenants who came as well.

Yan Mingting: “Cough, cough, cough, cough……”

He Cuizhang quickly smacked his back and beat his chest, which seemed to stop his coughing.

Yan Mingting took several sips of water before feeling his throat relax. He pointed to the courtyard door and said: “She is in the west wing.”

“Hey, why did this girl come here without saying a word? I’ll go see what is going on.” He Cuizhang disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

Yan Mingting was worried that he would say something without thinking and poke the person’s sensitive spot, so he had no choice but to bring the others to follow. Without knowing why, he turned back and explained to Zhao Yelan: “I’ll go see them first, and then I’ll come back and explain to you that she and I are just comrades-in-arms.”

Saying this, he disappeared from sight with the others.

After dinner, Zhao Yelan went to bathe before the people who had gone to the west wing came out, and lay down in bed, falling asleep early.

It was late at night when He Cuizhang left, and Yan Mingting returned to the room. It was pitch black, and he walked lightly to the side of the bed, calling: “Mengting, are you asleep?”

Zhao Yelan closed his eyes and did not reply.

Yan Mingting called again, but there was no response, so he went to lay down the bedding and fell asleep.

The bedroom was on the east side, separated from the west wing by a considerable distance. Zhao Yelan couldn’t help thinking: when would the girl move to the east side?

Perhaps because he was about to leave, all sorts of messy things kept appearing in his mind. He couldn’t fall asleep and couldn’t turn over without waking Yan Mingting.

That night, he slept and woke without being able to distinguish between reality and dreams.

There were several dreams on and off, but only the last one made an impression.

In the dream, Yan Mingting went on to take concubines less than a month after his “death,” and a couple of children were born within the year. A few years later, his grave was already covered with grass. Yan Mingting was there among a group of wives and concubines, and had brought his family members to pay homage to him in high spirits. He told the children that it was thanks to the early death of the person in the tomb that he could have so many children, and said that in the future, he would need those beautiful concubines to spread branches and leaves for the Yan family……

Zhao Yelan opened his eyes abruptly, stunned for a moment, and then threw off the blanket and got out of bed to kick Yan Mingting: “Get up!”

Yan Mingting let out an “ouch” and then opened his eyes in a daze. He looked at the dark night outside and asked: “What’s the matter?”

“It’s time to get up, get the hell out!” Zhao Yelan snapped.

Yan Mingting rubbed his eyes, yawning as he got up, and became happy again in a flash. Could it be that he wanted to follow the example of Kan Chuan’s wife and wake up early with him?

Zhao Yelan looked at the person who was suddenly washing and dressing with excitement, and his expression became even uglier: “You’re rather happy about getting the hell out.”

“Ah?” Yan Mingting unconsciously fixed his sword in place and went out in a daze. He turned back to the door after a moment and said in a low voice, “By the way, if I come back late, you help me keep an eye on Zhuo Ran and don’t let her run around alone.”

Look at this caring appearance!

Zhao Yelan gritted his teeth and bolted the door. He couldn’t sleep in the end. As soon as he closed his eyes, there was the scene of Yan Mingting taking his wives, concubines, and children to weed his grave, and he woke up angrily. He dragged Xiao Gao up from bed and went to the back courtyard to kill two chickens.

“My lord, why are you up so early, ah?” Housekeeper Qin took the chickens from Xiao Gao’s hands and brought them to the kitchen for extra lunch that day.

After handing them over to the kitchen, he felt that there were not enough chickens to kill, so he ordered a maid to go out and buy some juvenile chickens, otherwise the coop would be empty sooner or later.

During breakfast, the woman was invited out for a meal by Housekeeper Qin. After a night’s rest, her complexion looked much better, but her legs and feet were still a little awkward and she wobbled a bit when walking. When she saw him, she knew to say in greeting: “Zhao-daren, I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”

“Let’s eat first.” Zhao Yelan nodded, gave her a cold look, and then watched her movements, only to find that she was also secretly looking back at him.

Caught off guard, they stared at each other and looked away in embarrassment at the same time.

Zuo Ran forced herself to eat a few more mouthfuls, then stood looking at the gate, asking the guards beside her: “When will the General return?”

The guard said it would be soon, and she stood guard at the door like a watchman, pacing back and forth.

Zhao Yelan took a deep breath, pretended to be calm, and continued to eat.

At this time, Housekeeper Qin made a cup of tea and called: “Zuo-guniang, the doctor said that your legs and knees are worn out, and you need to rest well. You must come in and sit while you wait, the General will be back soon.”

“What kind of tea are you making?” Zhao Yelan asked abruptly.

“My lord, have you forgotten? This is from the tree planted by the old lady herself ah,” Housekeeper Qin replied.

Very good, the tea from one’s own family, only served to distinguished guests.

Ever since Zhao Yelan set eyes on these tea leaves the second day after entering the door, he had never seen them again. Many guests had come to the General’s Mansion so far, and even Li Jinyu, the Prime Minister, had failed to drink a cup of this tea. Yet this girl of unknown origin could drink it.

He couldn’t finish his meal, so he put down his chopsticks and took Xiao Gao out to the Imperial Academy. When passing through the gate, Zuo Ran called out for Zhao-daren.

Zhao Yelan looked at her suspiciously, but she hesitated to speak, opening and closing her mouth several times before finally shaking her head and saying: “It’s nothing. Walk slowly, my lord.”

Before noon, Ruan Xian walked to Zhao Yelan’s side and wondered: “Zhao-xiong, you have been absent-minded. Is something wrong?”

Zhao Yelan stared blankly: “Nothing is wrong.”

“If nothing is wrong, what do you think you drew?” Ruan Xian pointed to the painting on his desk.

Zhao Yelan looked down, and there was a magnificent turtle on what was originally a map.

“……”

“Who are you drawing?” Ruan Xian joked. Not far away, Wang Guisheng came over at the sound, took a look, and laughed as well.

“You have nothing else to do?” Zhao Yelan cast a glance at the two of them.

“It’s time for lunch soon. If there is anything to do, it is to eat. Let’s go see what dishes are available today,” Ruan Xian said.

The Imperial Academy specially provided lunch, which was convenient for officials who lived far away and didn’t go home at noon. Those like Ruan Xian could also bring their own food. His wife cooked well, but the weather was hot these days. In order to prevent the food from spoiling, he didn’t bring a food box to flaunt in front of everyone.

There were naturally also officials who lived nearby, and they would rather go back than eat this lunch that always consisted of soup.

Zhao Yelan usually stayed, but he wouldn’t eat the food here and ordered Xiao Gao to bring some decent food from the restaurant outside. Only he could eat expensive and luxurious food. Others couldn’t envy him, and could only criticize him secretly.

“My lord, I’m here!” Xiao Gao called from where he stood outside the gate.

Zhao Yelan folded the turtle drawing and put it in his pocket, then went to pick up the food box. Seeing Xiao Gao turning to leave, he said at once: “Wait a moment.”

Xiao Gao stood there waiting for his orders, and Zhao Yelan turned around and handed the food box to Ruan Xian and Wang Guisheng: “I have to go back and do something, you can take this and eat it., ba.”

“How kind of you.” Ruan Xian took it with a smile, pressing Wang Guisheng’s head down and bowing. “Zhao-xiong, don’t worry, we will eat it all!”

Zhao Yelan left the Imperial Academy in a hurry, hired a sedan chair to go back to the General’s mansion, and shouted after a while: “Hurry up!”

The sedan chair soon arrived at the General’s Mansion, and as soon as it stopped, Zhao Yelan swiftly disembarked and straightened his clothes. Then he took Xiao Gao inside and pretended to act natural, just in time for the mansion to serve lunch.

The people who were talking stopped, and He Cuizhang called out: “Zhao-daren, you’re back.”

Yan Mingting, who was deep in discussion with Zuo Ran, paused and raised his head, saying joyfully: “Why did you suddenly come back?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at the way he and Zuo Ran were sitting together, whether it was intentional or not, and said calmly and collectedly: “I left a book in the study and came back to retrieve it.”

“So have you eaten? Do you want to stay and eat something?” Yan Mingting immediately ordered the servants to get another pair of bowls and chopsticks, and then drove He Cuizhang to the other side to make room for him.

As soon as Zhao Yelan sat down, he saw the braised rabbit head in the middle: “What is this?”

“Braised rabbit head,” He Cuizhang said. “Zuo Ran likes to eat this dish the most, she……”

Zhao Yelan stood abruptly, looked at them with a complicated expression, and then walked angrily toward the back courtyard.

“My lord, what’s wrong with him?” He Cuizhang was mystified. “Did I say the wrong thing just now?”

Yan Mingting looked at the rabbit meat on the table, seemed to have thought of something, and went to the back courtyard alone to find him. Sure enough, he saw him standing in front of the rabbit cage, staring at Hongshao, who was eating vegetable leaves.

“You didn’t think we were going to cook Hongshao, did you?” Yan Mingting asked with a laugh.

Zhao Yelan turned around and looked at him.

“How could this be? Who would dare to touch it without its father’s consent?” Yan Mingting teased, then tugged on his wrist and walked back to the main hall. “It’s hot outside, let’s eat first.”

As the two walked down the corridor, Zhao Yelan suddenly shook off his hand. Holding his arms proudly behind his back, he asked: “Who is that woman?”

“Zuo Ran, a friend I met on the battlefield……”

Zhao Yelan interrupted: “She came here specially to find you. Why is that?”

“This……involves her personal affairs, so it’s not convenient to go into detail with you,” Yan Mingting said vaguely.

“All right, I understand. The book has been found, I should go back to the Imperial Academy.” Zhao Yelan parted ways with him.

“Wait!” Yan Mingting immediately grabbed him. “I can’t tell you, but I can let her decide whether to tell you or not, okay?”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows, turned around, and walked to the main hall. He wanted to see what was going on.

When the two returned to the table, Zuo Ran’s brow was practically in a knot, and she asked Yan Mingting in a low voice: “General, can you help me with this matter? If not, I must head south today.”

“If you go alone, you will die. I’ll go south with you,” Yan Mingting replied. “It just so happened that early this morning, someone reported that a large number of bandits had appeared in the Jiangnan area, and the officers and soldiers were unable to arrest them. The Emperor just ordered me to suppress the bandits and try to enlist them. When the time comes, you will go with me to meet the magistrate of Huaizhou. He is a stubborn man, after all.”

“Thank you, General.” Zuo Ran was incredibly moved.

Zhao Yelan coughed twice before Yan Mingting said: “Zuo Ran, this is the Zhao Yelan whom I mentioned to you. You came back in a hurry, and you probably don’t know that Yuehong almost had an accident a while ago, right?”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell it, I’ll tell it.” He Cuizhang took the lead and vividly told her about Zhong Yuehong almost entering the palace as a concubine. Listening to this, Zuo Ran would frown one moment and then rejoice the next, and finally looked at Zhao Yelan a little differently.

“He is the person I trust the most now,” Yan Mingting said to Zuo Ran, and Zhao Yelan glanced at him in surprise.

“If you can trust me, you can tell him about your situation. Maybe you will need his help to mediate. You also know that after I returned to Beijing, there were many differences between officialdom and the battlefield, and he is more suitable for handling such matters……” Yan Mingting said.

Zuo Ran nodded, bit her lower lip, and then looked earnestly at Zhao Yelan: “Zhao-daren, if you help me rescue Pinglu, then I, Zuo Ran, am willing to be at your service for the rest of my life. Mountains of daggers and seas of flames will not stop me!”

“Guniang is serious. Tell me, what happened?” Zhao Yelan’s expression remained unchanged.

Zuo Ran glanced around and said: “Can we go to the study?”

A handful of people wandered into the study room. Zuo Ran took another look at Yan Mingting and He Cuizhang and saw that they both trusted Zhao Yelan very much, so she said: “I have a good friend who is the daughter of the Magistrate of Huaizhou. In the early years, her family, had a marriage contract with a wealthy businessman from the south of the Yangtze river. That is, their son. The old lady wanted me to marry him as a concubine. I didn’t know what it meant to be a concubine at that time, but fortunately, I met my friend. She didn’t dislike my humble background, and taught me to read and write. She showed me how to be my own person instead of an obedient servant. Later, some things happened. I was about to escape from Huaizhou, and learned that she also had this plan. The two of us made an agreement to go out together to travel the rivers and lakes, to see the outside world……”

“Wait.” Zhao Yelan felt that this story was familiar. “That wealthy businessman’s name was Wang, correct? The gongzi that was burned to death by the fire girl?”

“How do you know?!” Zuo Ran looked astonished.

He Cuizhang was also shocked: “As expected of Zhao-daren, he can even calculate this much?!”

“……” Zhao Yelan glanced coolly at Yan Mingting. This was the “bedtime story” that caused him to have a nightmare!

---

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Chapter Forty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Seven

Who would have thought that when he intended to stop Summer from landing on Li Chengyuan, it would go full circle and end with Xia Xingchi throwing himself on top of him, instantly doubling the lethality.

Li Chengyuan was hit hard and immediately let out a grunt.

Xia Xingchi didn’t react. He just felt that the temperature against him was quite high, as if there was a hard, scalding stove under his body — it was a cold day, and apart from being a little uncomfortable, this was quite warm.

But after a moment of being dazed, he realized what he had done and was so frightened that he wanted to get off of Li Chengyuan immediately.

As a result, he couldn’t see clearly in the dark and stretched out his hand on the bed, pressing it on his chest. Xia Xingchi had to let go in a panic. Not daring to move anymore, he leaned back down on him again.

Summer blinked its big eyes that were unobstructed by the darkness and tilted its head to look dubiously at the two overlapping figures on the bed. Fortunately, it was just a cat and didn’t know how indecent this posture was.

It tilted its head to observe for a while, then leaped lightly right onto Xia Xingchi’s back and imitated his posture, spreading its four paws to lie down.

Xia Xingchi: ……

Li Chengyuan was hit so hard by him that he almost couldn’t breathe, and he lost consciousness for a moment. This situation was similar to the pounce in the bathtub that night, as if a certain person was born to defeat him.

Xia Xingchi had always thought that Li Chengyuan was unconscious at the moment he transmigrated, but in fact, when he was not seriously ill, he just couldn’t move — in other words, he was aware of Xia Xingchi’s unscientific appearance out of thin air that night.

Over the years, he often had hallucinations of someone that he had dreamed of suddenly appearing beside him, so even though he had desperately clutched Xia Xingchi’s hand and begged him not to leave, Li Chengyuan only thought it was another absurd dream.

The next day, when he opened his eyes and saw the little liar who had thrown himself into the trap obediently hugging his waist and leaning into his arms, warm and real, he was so ecstatic that he lost his mind.

“You have a fever?” Xia Xingchi felt Li Chengyuan’s forehead with one hand. “Holy shit, why is it so hot!”

Li Chengyuan waited for a long moment before speaking in a very low voice: “Cough cough……you……”

He probably wanted to say “Get out,” so Xia Xingchi didn’t wait for him to finish. He turned over and rolled off him, quickly organizing his words to justify the trouble he had caused.

In the end, Li Chengyuan whispered with a helpless sigh: “We haven’t received the certificate yet……”

Haven’t you always only liked money, and now you’re rushing to murder your fiancé before you get married and become the legal heir of the estate?

“Huh? What did you say?” Xia Xingchi leaned closer, wanting to hear the continuation of this drop-off sentence, but Li Chengyuan was only sober for a short time and soon lost consciousness again. Maybe it was the fever making him talk nonsense.

Now that there was such a commotion and the patient had woken up, Xia Xingchi simply reached out and turned on the bedside lamp, then finally caught that little bastard summer.

It may have also realized the trouble it had caused, because it finally calmed down and was thrown out of the room obediently.

The small problem had been solved, but the big one still needed attention. Under the light, Li Chengyuan’s face was still bloodlessly pale even in the midst of a high fever, without any trace of red.

Xia Xingchi’s “decathlon-level versatility”  included simple diagnosis and treatment of patients, but Li Chengyuan was so woozy that he still gritted his teeth and didn’t make a sound. There was no way to tell where he was hurting, or to prescribe the right medicine.

The most urgent task was to reduce the fever first, lest someone’s IQ-capped brain be burnt stupid on the spot.

Carrying the first-aid kit from the central living room back to the bedroom, Xia Xingchi picked up a pillow and used it to lightly cover Li Chengyuan’s eyes. Then he narrowed his eyes and turned on the brightest overhead light in the room.

In the abrupt, dazzling light, Xia Xingchi squinted and rummaged through the first-aid kit, but he couldn’t find any fever-reducers after searching a few times. He only found a bunch of antipyretic patches, which were probably disfavored by Li Chengyuan since they had never been opened for use.

He tore open a package, lifted the pillow on Li Chengyuan’s face like the lid of a pot, and patted the antipyretic patch onto his forehead before continuing to rummage without giving up.

Uncle Ding took care of the first-aid kit, and it was also mentioned in the book that Li Chengyuan was prone to sudden high fevers, so how could he be so negligent that he ran out of antipyretics and didn’t replenish them?

After searching around, he saw the sleeping person move. Likely his extreme sensitivity to the cold during a high fever, along with the cool mint smell, woke him up.

The pillow that Xia Xingchi had carefully covered his eyes with slipped down, and Li Chengyuan, who was suddenly blinded by the bright lights, couldn’t open his eyes.

“Hey! You can’t take that off, you have a fever. I just measured thirty-nine degrees.”

Li Chengyuan remained silent. He didn’t pursue this behavior of appearing in his room or his actions in the man vs cat fight, and only continued to compete with the antipyretic sticker.

His state of mind was clearly not right. Xia Xingchi pressed both of his hands down, wondering, has this person burned himself out?

Li Chengyuan was so restrained that he couldn’t move his hands, so he finally spoke. His voice was low and weak, with a very flat tone: “Need to take fever-reducers……”

“Okay, okay, I’ll find some for you. Take the stomach medicine on the bedside table first,” Xia Xingchi said as he searched, as if coaxing a child.

Li Chengyuan unexpectedly moved to get out of bed. Likely becoming dizzy in his haste, he staggered and nearly fell down as soon as he took a step.

“What are you doing? I’ll get you whatever you want, lie down!”

Li Chengyuan whispered: “The fever-reducing medicine is there.”

Following the direction his finger was pointing, there was a rather inconspicuous little hidden drawer.

As soon as Xia Xingchi opened it, he saw that there were antipyretics inside, along with pain relievers and some other unknown imported medicines.

Why put it here instead of in the first-aid kit in the living room? To make it more convenient?

It was strange, Aunt Li had said that when Li Chengyuan’s heart was suffering, he would look for medicine in the living room, but in case of a heart condition, such an important medicine was not at hand?

Forget it, he found it anyway. This person who was burnt silly watched as he handed over the medicine box: “Take the medicine. Oh yeah, I heard that rich people have their own doctors? What’s your doctor’s phone number, I —”

“Don’t!” Li Chengyuan was very quiet at first, but he raised his voice at this moment with an extremely sharp tone.

This sentence seemed to have stepped on his tail, making him puff up instantly: “Don’t let the doctor come! I don’t……cough cough……”

Before he could finish speaking, he clenched his fist against his lips and coughed violently until he was out of breath, his face becoming more and more icy and white.

Xia Xingchi was nonplussed, and quickly patted him on the back: “Don’t get excited, don’t get excited, it was just a suggestion. Come on, drink some water and take the fever-reducers first.”

“Don’t let people know that I’m sick.” Li Chengyuan’s voice was already hoarse, but his tone was unquestionably firm and commanding.

But there was a faint sense of fear and tension in his expression…….as if he had done something wrong.

These words puzzled Xia Xingchi: “Ah, why?”

The only servants who could stay in the villa were Aunt Li and Uncle Ding, who had watched him grow up and knew his physical condition very well. Fevers had long been commonplace.

Likely due to the aggravation of the stomach pain, Li Chengyuan stopped talking and lay on his side, curled up slightly with his hands pressed against his stomach.

Xia Xingchi saw that he was exerting too much force and was afraid that he would hurt himself, so he quickly tried to pull away his cold fingers.

But he couldn’t break them away at all, so Xia Xingchi had no choice but to coax the child and ask: “May I rub it for you? My hands are super warm, and my professional massage skills are top-notch.”

He actually heard this sentence. Li Chengyuan stared at him and hesitated for a moment, then slowly let go.

It was inevitable that people would not look good when they were sick, but Li Chengyuan was different. His fragile aesthetics were combined with a powerful and serious aura, and it was not an exaggeration to say “only a god could surpass him.”

Through the black silk shirt, Xia Xingchi gently placed his hands on his stomach and rubbed them up and down. Intense body heat penetrated through the material, as well as a slight tremble as he endured the pain.

He hadn’t eaten a bite of dinner today and never mentioned it. Moreover, the stomach disease was originally an emotional disease, and he had suddenly exploded in the car and lost his temper. Speaking of which, it was the first time he had witnessed him getting so angry. It would be strange if he didn’t have a stomachache.

Xia Xingchi sighed with some distress. No matter how rebellious the tree was, it was still his own money tree after all. And he had agreed to give him the best end-of-life care, but it turned out that he was specifically designed to piss him off.

It seemed that the “professional massage” really worked. Li Chengyuan’s complexion improved slightly, his tense body slowly relaxed, and he closed his eyes and remained motionless.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi silently withdrew his hand. Li Chengyuan should see a doctor if his fever was like this, so why not quietly go downstairs and ask Uncle Ding for help?

Before his hand left completely, it was suddenly covered by a cold palm, and Li Chengyuan opened his eyes again: “Don’t leave, I’m rich now, don’t leave……”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback, knowing that he was delirious with fever and talking nonsense.

But nonsense was always based on the subconscious – how could a big tycoon with an indifferent and arrogant personality say such things?

Li Chengyuan murmured the same way as that night he transmigrated. At that time, Xia Xingchi thought he was trying to grab a temporary nurse, but now it seemed that he was talking to someone.

Xia Xingchi was immediately shocked by this thought, and his small gossip antenna sprung up:

He didn’t expect that such a fickle and fierce villain as Li Chengyuan be so infatuated and dazedly talk about his White Moonlight.

And every time, he mentioned “money.” Could it be that the big tycoon had no money before and was rejected by the money-worshiping White Moonlight, failing in his courtship?

A sadomasochism drama was immediately staged in the little brain of Xia Xingchi, who had “read countless dog-blood stories.”

According to the villain boss’s pathologically paranoid tendencies, shouldn’t he take them by force now, capture that person back and imprison them by his side, and then do indescribable things day and night……?

---

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Chapter Twelve << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fourteen

Xia Xingchi was concentrating on doing up his buttons when he at once felt something both warm and cool touch his forehead gently.

“Huh……?” He raised his hand in confusion and touched the place that had been kissed, but didn’t realize what had happened.

Lin Meng, who was at the side and had seen everything clearly, felt as if she had been struck by lightning and tried her best not to ask ‘who is this?’

The man looked so powerful and wealthy, and coupled with the impossible sports car, her heart trembled. My God! Could it be that Xia Xingchi was being nurtured by a boss?

But why was the other party a man? Did Xia Xingchi really like the same sex or was he being pressured?

The most important thing was that life was not an idol drama. How could those capitalist crocodiles be so good-looking and young? This person had to be a liar!

Xia Xingchi finally regained his senses and realized what had just occurred, so he turned his head to stare at Li Chengyuan with anger in his eyes, and silently asked him “Why did you kiss me!”

He dared not speak aloud. Let alone explaining it to the stunned Lin Meng, he had a monthly salary of one million, after all, and had to work hard to play the role of the villain’s lover —

When all was said and done, how could a kiss from a lover be called stealing?

Seeing that Lin Meng had been silent for a long time and wore a complicated expression, Xia Xingchi didn’t realize that it was due to her witnessing someone’s face-changing scene, and felt guilty for a moment: 

He thought to himself that it seemed all artists had to be single, and Sister Mengmeng couldn’t accept the fact that he was “in love.” He couldn’t say that Li Chengyuan was actually the kind of fiance who would get a certificate immediately.

Xia Xingchi could only warm up the scene with a playful smile: “Where does Sister Mengmeng live? Shall we send you back?”

No, wait, when did it turn into “we?” He had simply made his own decision and didn’t ask “Driver Li” if he agreed.

Besides, this was a two-seater sports car, did he want her to sit on the roof?

Lin Meng said immediately and unhesitatingly: “No need!……I’ve already booked a car. Oh yes, that white car with the hazard lights on over there!”

She had already come up with a series of possibilities, including dog-blood theater, legal drama, and ghosts.

In any case, the top priority was to avoid being someone else’s light bulb.^[1] She suspected that if she stayed here for another second, the gloomy and terrifying man would immediately take out a forty-meter machete.

Seeing her leave, Xia Xingchi touched his forehead again and stared at Li Chengyuan as if asking for an explanation, wondering why the villain wanted to eat his tofu.

“You did well,” Li Chengyuan praised casually. “Next time, take the initiative.”

Xia Xingchi was perplexed, and didn’t know why his tofu was eaten with such confidence, so he could only jokingly say: “Sir, we are just getting married for show, and I sell art, but not myself. If you want to get fresh like this, there will be an additional price.”^[2]

The last sentence was originally a popular meme, but Li Chengyuan’s eyes immediately turned cold and he stared at Xia Xingchi with a sullen expression full of scrutiny, then turned around and got into the car without saying a word.

Xia Xingchi: ……?

Damn, even the request to ban eating tofu had become disobedient and rage-inducing?

Laborers had no right to speak?

The atmosphere in the car was extremely oppressive. In fact, the two were not on the same channel at all and had different things on their minds.

The more Xia Xingchi thought about it, the angrier he became. The feeling of lips touching his forehead didn’t offend him, surprisingly, and wasn’t a big deal at all. But this exceeded the range of the terms of service, so why did the other lose his temper after a reminder?

Xia Xingchi looked out the window irritably and didn’t speak, thinking that even if the other party was the king of heaven or the god of wealth, he wouldn’t even think about apologizing.

“Is there anything else in your eyes besides money?”

The silence was suddenly broken, and Li Chengyuan said coldly, “Then for more money, anything can be done to you at will?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Xingchi’s expression changed abruptly, and some nasty, awful memories came flooding back.

The joke about selling his art but not himself was his bottom line, and to be openly asked by Li Chengyuan was really unexpected.

Some extremely disgusting images emerged, and Xia Xingchi ‘s thunder point^[3] was instantly detonated. He said furiously: “Yes, yes, yes, I am superficial and I have no dreams, I only like money! I can do anything for money because I am poor and have no ambition.”

Even if he didn’t know that Li Chengyuan was abstinent, he wouldn’t accept any amount of money for being “kept.”

“Mr. Li, I am such a poor person, is there anything I can’t do as long as the money is in place? I’ll sleep with you tonight if the price is right, you know money can buy you the best.”

“Xia Xingchi!” Li Chengyuan was furious upon hearing this.

Who would have thought that a little bit of unpleasantness would turn with a single spark into a raging prairie fire.

Xia Xingchi could be persuaded, but not coerced, and this burst of anger was even more difficult to deal with. He figured that the worst case scenario would be getting fired, or maybe even being strangled to death by the villain on the spot.

In the past, he had even dared to beat up rich second-generation guests. Afterwards, even if he was retaliated against and beaten until he couldn’t walk for a few days, he would still dare to fight them to the death the next time.

Li Chengyuan turned the steering wheel with one hand, then slammed on the brakes to stop the car on the side of the road, his fingertips shaking with anger.

Just give money……Wouldn’t anyone be able to give money……

The person he had cherished in his heart all these years, was this how little he cherished himself? How little he thought of him?

Xia Xingchi gazed out at the lonely night, thinking angrily that this was a good place. Whether it was a beating or death, it was a quiet place, perfectly convenient for the villain’s use.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Chengyuan took a deep breath to adjust his emotions, then asked in a deep voice: “How much is once?”

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being stunned, and for a moment, he even suspected that his ears were broken.

The big boss villain in the novel, who was abstinent and placed himself above common mortals turned out to be……sincerely inquiring about prostitution?

A few seconds later, Xia Xingchi burst into a rage all at once: “Are you fucking serious? Li Chengyuan, what is wrong with you! One billion per night, one cent less, no deal, no sale.”

He momentarily couldn’t hold back his temper. It had already risen to the point of a personal attack on his patron, and Xia Xingchi thought that being strangled might not be enough, and that he would end up feeding the sharks.

Contrary to expectations, Li Chengyuan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. The flames of the prairie fire suddenly sputtered, and half of them were extinguished in an instant. The lost signal finally connected. Perhaps it was his concern that had confused him, but it was rare for him to be so slow. It was only now that he realized Xia Xingchi had been talking ironically, and hadn’t actually sold himself.

But thinking of the fact that there was only a simple monetary relationship between the two of them, an unknown fire continued to burn.

To the extent that he silently restarted the supercar and didn’t say a word all the way home.

– – –

It was two o’clock in the morning.

The second floor hall was quiet, and only the warm wall lamps in the corridor glowed.

Xia Xingchi was in his pajamas, standing at the door of Li Chengyuan’s room while holding a tray with warm water and stomach medicine in one hand, and a hot water bottle under his arm.

He had been standing there for a while, staring at the closed door in a dilemma while deciding whether or not to go in.

It wasn’t uncommon for Xia Xingchi to quarrel with a bad boss at the start of a job, but after some thought, Xia Xingchi also felt that there was something wrong with himself. At this point, his explosive temper should have changed.

He had originally brought crackers to cushion Li Chengyuan’s stomach, but forgot about them after their cold war.

Although this person’s temper, words, and deeds tonight were particularly hateful and strange, the thought of when he got out of the car with a pale face and almost staggered really made him feel soft with worry.

Xia Xingchi sighed, and thought that he would just go in quietly and take a look to see if he was asleep.

After making up his mind, he gingerly placed his hand on the doorknob, held his breath, and silently opened a small gap in the door with the lightest and slowest force.

Because his eyes had not yet adapted to the dark environment, he couldn’t see anything for a while. The room was quiet at that time, and no sound could be heard, as if the person inside had fallen asleep.

But after reading the original novel, Xia Xingchi knew this person’s disposition of silent forbearance. This ruthless person with a stomach ache in the middle of the night would keep silent almost to the point of fainting, so he really wouldn’t feel relieved until he saw it with his own eyes.

Therefore, silence did not mean he was asleep, which created a big problem: If he didn’t say anything, how could he explain his behavior of opening the door in the middle of the night and entering his room?

While searching for an excuse, Xia Xingchi brought the tray into the room first, then opened his eyes wide and looked hard, trying to make them adapt to the darkness quickly.

Unexpectedly, before he could take a step inside, he saw a big white dumpling appearing out of nowhere at lightning-fast speed!

It was too late to close the door, and Summer had already sneaked in through the narrow crack and entered the room in a flash!

Xia Xingchi: ! ! !

– – –

In the dark, Li Chengyuan closed his eyes drowsily and felt a splitting headache, along with sharp stomach cramps.

His entire body was obviously hot, but he could only shiver with cold. Due to the tinnitus in his ears, he didn’t hear any changes in the room.

Whenever his consciousness blurred like this, Li Chengyuan was always in a trance, unable to tell when or where he was, but engraved deeply in his bone marrow was —

Can’t make a sound.

Can’t let anyone know I’m sick again.

In the silence, there was a “meow!” as Summer jumped onto Li Chengyuan’s bed and then quickly crawled to his side and arched back and forth.

Li Chengyuan was usually a light sleeper and didn’t let it into the room at night, so this was quite novel for Summer. It raised its front paw and retracted the tips of its claws, patting Li Chengyuan’s face with its pad to make him play with it.

But no matter whether it was scratching his cuffs or sweeping the tip of its big tail over his nose, its owner was still unconscious and trembling slightly.

Perhaps because it realized that its owner’s condition was not right, Summer became impatient and took a running leap onto the edge of the bed.

Although it had no bad intentions, little animals didn’t understand degrees of seriousness, after all.

In the darkness, a large cat weighing more than ten catties lowered its head and aimed at Li Chengyuan. It was about to jump down for a “slam down with the weight of Mount Taishan” hardcore wakeup.

All of this happened in an instant. Xia Xingchi saw this scene with his barely-adjusted night vision and his soul suddenly jumped out of his body in fright.

Setting aside his “excuses for entering the room,” he lunged forward!

A second later would have spelled disaster, but thanks to Xia Xingchi’s quick reflexes, he managed to reach out and intercept its launch track before it could leap.

Summer thought he wanted to stroke it again, so it immediately changed direction and jumped to the other side of the bed. It landed steadily, and its movements were quite agile as it dodged left and right to avoid Xia Xingchi.

The most frightening thing was that it was still eager to continue to try to forcibly wake Li Chengyuan.

Xia Xingchi feared that its precious, fragile owner would be smashed under its huge tonnage, and his heart rose into his throat. One person and one cat began a silent chase around the bed in the dark.

Xia Xingchi’s night vision was naturally far inferior to that of a cat, and since this was the first time he had entered Li Chengyuan’s room, he didn’t know the layout of the furnishings.

But the more this was so, the more this little bastard Summer thought he was playing with it, so it ran quite happily for a while.

As expected of the villain’s pet, it dared to play parkour in the bedroom and for a while, there was chaos as everything was knocked to the ground.

Xia Xingchi grew increasingly frantic the more he ran, and he was about to explode on the spot and yell, “Stop for me!!!”

Just as he was about to collapse in exhaustion, he saw this slippery white furry ball jump onto the bed again and crouch on Li Chengyuan’s long legs curled up under the blanket.

Maybe playing had finally tired it out, but this was the first time it had put on the brakes all night.

Seeing that it had finally stopped running, Xia Xingchi, who was also exhausted, was overjoyed and forgot about everything else for a moment. Only the thought of “catch the little bastard” remained in his head.

He hurried forward and rushed toward Summer!

The moment his feet left the ground, Xia Xingchi abruptly came to his senses and realized something was wrong.

The second he spent in the air seemed to stretch infinitely.

In the hazy night, he saw Summer leisurely raise its front paw to lick it, and then look at him with a rather vivid smug expression —

Then it jumped up and left Li Chengyuan like a flash of lightning!

Now it was too late to brake, and Xia Xingchi could only think, “It’s over.”

If anything could be worse, it was probably Li Chengyuan being awakened by this very fierce human vs cat fight, and at the moment Summer jumped up from him, he turned over to lay down flat.

Boom!

In the next second, Xia Xingchi threw himself on top of him.

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[1] “Someone else’s light bulb” refers to a person who appears deliberately or accidentally when and where a couple are on a date. ⮐

[2] The saying, “There will be an additional price,” became a popular meme that originated from a the popular Chinese TV show, “Star Detective.” ⮐

[3] Thunder point (雷点) is an internet buzzword that refers to the bottom line of someone’s tolerance. When something “touches the thunder point,” it will produce the effect of “being struck by lightning.” ⮐

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Chapter Eleven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirteen

Zhao Yelan handed over the rest of the purchases to Housekeeper Qin to arrange and led Xiao Gao to the bedroom. He took out a house deed and handed it to him: “You have been with me for so many years, and it is time for you to start a family. You take this deed and check on the house, see if there are any repairs that need to be made. Buy some new things and find a girl that you like, ba.”

Xiao Gao looked at the house deed, then at him, and quickly took two steps back: “My lord, what I want is tanghulu, not a house deed, ah.”

“I’m aware.” Zhao Yelan tucked it into his belt and whispered softly: “You’ve grown up and it’s time for you to have your own place. If you really can’t find a good place to go, then ask your uncle to arrange it, and he will find a good job for you.”

“I don’t want Uncle.” Xiao Gao pursed his mouth. “My lord, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you want me anymore?”

Zhao Yelan sighed, persuading with kind words: “Don’t you want to marry a wife and have children?”

“Don’t want to,” Xiao Gao said without hesitation.

“……”

“If I marry a wife and have children, I will become a bald old man like Housekeeper Qin. I just want to follow my lord.” Xiao Gao suddenly asked, “My lord, are you going to die?”

“……”

“When my dad died, he was just like you are now! Don’t die, I don’t want you to die……”As Xiao Gao spoke, his eyes turned red.

“Okay, okay, I’m not dead yet, I won’t die.” Zhao Yelan coaxed: “Since you don’t want to marry a wife, then stay.”

“En!” Xiao Gao wiped away his tears, nodded swiftly, and then quickly wiped his eyes again: “The General is here.”

Zhao Yelan looked outside. He saw Yan Mingting coming over and whispered: “Don’t let anyone know what we spoke about today.”

“Understood.” Before Xiao Gao left, he hesitantly pointed to the tanghulu in his hand. “Can you give this to me?”

As soon as Yan Mingting entered the room, he saw Zhao Yelan give Xiao Gao the last pieces of tanghulu. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Gao turned around with tears in his eyes and ran out with it.

He opened his mouth several times, and only after a while did he ask: “What’s wrong with Xiao Gao?”

“He’s homesick.” Zhao Yelan sat down leisurely, then remembered the food he had bought and got up to look for something to eat. 

“I saw it, ah, you gave him some tanghulu.” Yan Mingting followed and walked up beside him, noticing that he had bought a lot of delicacies. There were still a few days before his birthday, was he not afraid of letting it go bad?

“What? You want some too?” Zhao Yelan took out Huichunlou’s drunken shrimp and opened the paper bag. Its fragrance wafted out immediately.

“En, I’m homesick too,” Yan Mingting blurted out.

Zhao Yelan gave him a strange look: “Whose home are you in now?”

“Oh……I mean, I miss my parents and brother.”

“Then do you want to eat these?” Zhao Yelan asked, pointing at the lavish meal he had brought back.

“No, I just want tanghulu.”

“What is the trouble?” Zhao Yelan opened a paper bag beside him. There happened to be a few tanghulu inside, and he gave it all to him. “Take it.”

Satisfied, Yan Mingting stepped aside with the tanghulu and heard Zhao Yelan summon all the servants to divide up the lavish meal.

Yan Mingting: “ ? ”

In the end, while eating tanghulu, Yan Mingting watched the servants eat fish and shredded chicken so happily, and regretted it very much.

“What’s the matter with you today?” Yan Mingting couldn’t help asking.

“If you accidentally buy too much, it will become rancid after some time, so it is better to ask everyone to come taste it,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting grudgingly accepted this explanation, but over the next few days, Zhao Yelan seemed a bit abnormal.

First, he spent a lot of money to add things to the house. The tables and chairs were replaced with high-quality rosewood, the wooden screens were replaced with glazed ones, the weeds in the yard were pulled out, the chicken coop fence was repaired, and some koi were thrown in the fish pond. Even Hongshao had its own extra-large cage. It seemed that he couldn’t wait to renovate the General’s Mansion.

“It’s not right, really not right.” Standing in the foyer, Yan Mingting looked at Zhao Yelan who was going out shopping again, and narrowed his eyes slightly, asking Housekeeper Qin beside him, “What exactly is he trying to do?”

“Don’t you understand?” Housekeeper Qin smiled happily. “My lord is obviously preparing for your birthday, ah. Isn’t renovating the mansion just to let you live comfortably?”

“Then why did he buy so many things?”

“They are congratulatory gifts for you. After all, it’s his first time celebrating your birthday. If he can’t make up his mind, he buys more.”

Yan Mingting came to a realization and nodded: “It’s still Uncle Qin who sees most clearly.”

Housekeeper Qin stroked his beard with a smile. After being pleased with himself for a moment, he picked up a broom and went to clean the mansion.

“That’s right, Uncle Qin, you go tidy up the west wing.” Yan Mingting remembered another thing.

“Who will use it?”

“I don’t know if it will be used or not, but prepare it first.”

He had received a letter from Zhong Yuehong yesterday. According to the distance, it would take two days to be delivered from the border, so this letter was written at a post station on the way. The letter briefly mentioned a few things about her travels, and then mentioned that she had met Zuo Ran at the post station.

Zuo Ran was traveling to Beijing alone and said that she was going to look for the General. She was in a hurry, and continued on her way without taking even a sip of water.

Zhong Yuehong couldn’t find out her purpose, but knew that something had happened, so she hurriedly wrote a letter and sent it to Beijing to notify him in advance.

If she was traveling day and night, Zuo Ran should arrive at about the same time as the letter. No matter what had happened, he would know when he saw her.

Zhao Yelan hadn’t come back yet when it was time for dinner. Yan Mingting walked outside the gate and looked around for a while, and a man ran up to him and asked: “Excuse me, is General Yan at the residence?”

“I am.”

“Someone asked me to hand this to you.” The man handed him a letter and ran away.

Yan Mingting opened it and saw an address written on it. He put the letter away, walked along a secluded path, and came to a small farmyard. According to the instructions on the letter, he knocked on the door five times in succession. The door opened.

Yan Mingting looked at Xiao Gao, who had opened the door, and said, “What is this?”

“Inside, please.” Xiao Gao gestured for him to go in quickly, and then guarded the door.

Yan Mingting took out the letter, walked towards the person at the table, and put it in front of him: “Why did you go to so much trouble to call me here?”

“Can’t I just call you out for no reason?” Zhao Yelan asked back.

“Of course you can.” Yan Mingting smiled, sat down beside him, and looked around. There was only one candle lit in the room, and the environment was a little dark, so he had to move the chair a little to the side in order to see Zhao Yelan’s face clearly.

Zhao Yelan turned his head to the side with a neutral expression, and Yan Mingting grinned: “I came here specially to meet you, what is the matter?”

“I want to introduce you to a friend.”

“A friend? Who, ah?”

Just as he spoke, there were five knocks on the door, neither light nor heavy, and Xiao Gao glanced out the window before opening the door.

Yan Mingting looked out the door suspiciously but couldn’t get a clear view. When the other party walked in, he pointed at the person, dumbfounded, and was speechless for a long moment.

The new arrival didn’t seem to expect him to be there, and was briefly stunned before turning to Zhao Yelan and asking: “Why is the General here?”

“It’s fine, come in, ba.” Zhao Yelan said.

“Yes.” The visitor restrained his surprised expression, walked over calmly, and sat down on the other side of him so that he was face to face with Yan Mingting.

Now that he could see his appearance clearly, Yan Mingting couldn’t hide his inner astonishment and turned pale with shock: “Kan Chuan?!”

“General Yan, I have long wanted to pay a visit, but never found the opportunity. I didn’t think I would meet you here.” Kan Chuan smiled slightly. His speech and demeanor were somewhat similar to Zhao Yelan’s. At first glance, he was either someone under his influence or a like-minded person.

“You, you two……aren’t at odds?” Yan Mingting was so shocked that he was unable to recover for a long time.

No wonder he didn’t suspect it at all. After returning to Beijing and going to court with Zhao Yelan for the first time, he had witnessed Kan Chuan’s request to abolish Zhao Yelan’s official position and learned from hundreds of officials that the two often had verbal disputes in court. Even though Zhao Yelan had gone to the Imperial Academy, he was repeatedly mentioned and castigated by Kan Chuan from time to time. 

Originally, he had admired Kan Chuan’s temperament. If he hadn’t always insulted Zhao Yelan openly, he might still have been able to make friends with him. He really didn’t expect this……

“It seems that even General Yan has been fooled by this ruse. Does this mean that my acting skills are not bad, Zhao-daren?” Kan Chuan looked at Zhao Yelan with a smile, and Zhao Yelan smiled back.

“Then when you asked to impeach him in court that day, in fact……”

Kan Chuan took a glance at Zhao Yelan and saw that he didn’t object, so he knew the reason he was here tonight. He wanted to hand over his cards to General Yan. It seemed that their relationship was closer than he had imagined.

“It was Zhao-daren’s idea,” Kan Chuan said.

Yan Mingting understood everything. Presumably, it was Zhao Yelan who saw the Emperor’s intention behind the marriage decree. He simply retreated in order to advance and let Kan Chuan come out on top, so that he was appreciated by the Emperor. He became a supporter of high moral character and there was no objection to his extraordinary promotion. Now he had become a new palace favorite, but no one insulted him like they had insulted Zhao Yelan, and he gained a lot of support instead.

And Zhao Yelan appeared to have withdrawn from court, but still held the greatest power. Moreover, he didn’t have to go to court every day and face his enemies, but could hide in the Imperial Academy with a group of scholars, relaxed and happy.

At first, Yan Mingting had seen that he was not dispirited after being demoted, and thought that he was optimistically accepting his fate, but he didn’t expect that the arrangement had been made long ago. He had still underestimated Zhao Yelan.

“Last time, when we learned about Yuehong’s entry into the harem in advance, that was you?”

“Indeed, the Emperor discussed this matter with me. I thought it was an extraordinary piece of news, so I passed the information to Zhao-daren,” Kan Chuan said.

It turned out that this was Zhao Yelan’s person in court. At that time, he had been admonished that small indiscretions could lead to big problems, and if the informer in the court was exposed, there would indeed be endless troubles.

No wonder the two were exchanging looks at the Imperial Examination banquet.

“My lord, recently the Prime Minister has asked the Emperor to invite you to return to court several times on the grounds of numerous government affairs, but I temporarily stopped it. What are your thoughts on this matter?” Kan Chuan asked.

“Stop it, I don’t want to go back yet.”

Zhao Yelan knew that Li Jinyu was doing this either to repay his son’s gambling debts, or for Yan Mingting. But after all, Li Jinyu didn’t know that he had stepped down on purpose. Fortunately, Kan Chuan was quick-witted and opposed Li Jinyu’s suggestion in time before receiving instructions, which made the scholar-politicians favor him even more.

“All right.” Kan Chuan spoke again, “Yesterday, the Mongolian royal family sent a letter, wanting to make peace through marriage to the princess. Do you think this is a good thing or not?”

“There is only one princess, who is not yet of age, so naturally there will be discord.”

“The Emperor also thinks similarly. However, the old prince insists on the marriage.”

The old prince was the younger brother of the late Emperor, an idle prince with only a few daughters in his family. Worried that there would be no one to inherit the family estate, while taking concubines to have children and using his daughters to win over the powerful, he actually turned his thoughts to the Mongolian prince.

Zhao Yelan said firmly: “It is absolutely impossible. The Mongolian people surrendered, what prestige is there in delivering a princess for a political marriage? The Mongols are just testing us. Once they see us backing down, they will only ask for more in the future. Besides, did they forget how to surrender? Although the Yan family army has returned to the court, they are not dead yet, so what is there to be afraid of?”

Yan Mingting was shocked, and looked at him with burning eyes: “That’s right.”

“All right, then tomorrow I will have a good fight with that old prince,” Kan Chuan said with a smile.

Zhao Yelan nodded, and had another matter to discuss: “The water report from the Huainan area stated that there may be a risk of flooding, and the Imperial court has distributed disaster funds. However, I have heard people south of the Yangtze river say that it has been sunny for more than ten days, so I have sent people to verify this matter. In the end, it is either a Jiangnan population error or the water reporter lied about the disaster situation.”

“Yes,” Kan Chuan said worriedly, “Natural disasters are the most difficult. As soon as the court received notice, it prepared silver taels lest the disaster relief be delayed. The water reporter is an official position that has just been established, and I am afraid that someone will take advantage of this and use the changing weather to make false reports.”

Yan Mingting listened to the two of them discussing the affairs of the court and gradually accepted the fact that this righteous-looking Kan Chuan was actually allied with Zhao Yelan. How many other surprises was he unaware of?

Zhao Yelan talked too much and started coughing, and Kan Chuan asked in concern, “How is your health, my lord?”

“Still the same.”

“You should pay more attention to it, ah. I’m still waiting for you to come back and work with me.”

Why did these words sound so familiar?

Yan Mingting thought about it carefully, and recalled that on the day that Zhao Yelan was dismissed, Kan Chuan once said in front of all the officials once court was let out: “Zhao-daren, I look forward to seeing you again in court.”

What had Zhao Yelan said? Oh, he had said: “When I come back, you’d better be alive.”

Everyone present at the time, including Yan Mingting, thought they were being sarcastic, but didn’t know that there was truth in the drama, ah.

The candle was about to burn out, and the night was already dark. Zhao Yelan asked Yan Mingting to leave first, and then opened the box that had been placed on the table. Inside were a pair of jade ruyis^[1] and golden locks. “Is your baby coming soon? At that time, I may not be able to drink a cup of full moon wine,^[2] so I am delivering the gift to you in private.”

“My lord, what are you doing? The child will not be born until autumn, so it is too early to send a gift now,” Kan Chuan said.

“I just happened to see it when passing by, so I bought it. If you don’t like it, I’ll exchange it for another gift.”

Kan Chuan quickly put it away with a smile: “It’s fine, it’s fine. Then I would like to thank Zhao-daren. Now that the child has been mentioned, I would like to make a presumptuous request. My lord, would you like to be my child’s godfather?”

Zhao Yelan blinked and said: “No……”

“My lord, don’t refuse me in a hurry. Anyway, Li Niang and I will only recognize you. It is thanks to you, my lord, that we can be together. Other words of gratitude, I will not repeat. It is all thanks to my lord that I can have today, and the only one I admire is you. After all, not just anyone is willing to bear so much infamy,” Kan Chuan spoke with conviction.

Zhao Yelan felt that he was not as great as he said. In any case, Zhao Yelan did all those infamous things, so what did it have to do with him, Zhao Mengting?

“Let’s talk about this once your baby is born. It is too early to mention such things.”

At that time, he would have disappeared from the eyes of the world. The name Zhao Yelan, whether it was accompanied by stigma or power, would be completely buried under the tombstone of history over time.

And the one who lived would be Zhao Mengting, free for a lifetime.

The two left after the conversation was over. Zhao Yelan walked a distance away from the courtyard and heard the sound of unhurried footsteps behind him. He said without turning his head: “Didn’t I tell you to go back first?”

“That won’t do, I wanted to wait for you,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk forward, but this person did not keep up, and remained a short distance away from him.

He stopped and looked back at the other party.

Yan Mingting said with a smile: “I just wanted to see how many people there are behind you.”

Zhao Yelan frowned: “Then how many people did you see?”

“I looked horizontally and vertically, front and back, and behind you……” Yan Mingting twirled his fingers and finally pointed at himself. “It’s just me.”

The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched.

After lying down at night, Yan Mingting asked curiously: “Kan Chuan is much more powerful now. Aren’t you afraid that one day he will stop listening to you and bite you back?”

“I dared to give him power to go up, but naturally there are ways to pull him down,” Zhao Yelan said. “Besides, he has a very affectionate and righteous nature, so he won’t easily betray me. If you need him for something in the future, just go to him.”

“You invited me to meet him today, and now you say this again. What is your meaning? You want him to help me with my father’s case?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then said: “I also have my own affairs, and it is impossible to help you all of the time. Kan Chuan is a good candidate. You can observe for a while before making a decision.”

That was the point of organizing the meeting today. If there was anything more he could do for Yan Mingting before leaving, it would be with this matter.

“Are you planning to give up your responsibilities?” Yan Mingting said. “That’s why you found someone to take over?”

The words were coarse, but the rationale was not.

Zhao Yelan counterattacked: “I just want to find a few more trustworthy people for you. You can use them or not.”

Yan Mingting didn’t say anything more.

The next day when Zhao Yelan came back from the Imperial Academy, he heard commotion from afar, and then the sedan chair stopped. He went out to take a look, and it turned out that someone had taken two beautiful concubines at once. People coming and going to watch the excitement blocked the road.

He had no choice but to order the sedan chair to go back and take Xiao Gao to walk the distance. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the red-faced master standing at the door. He was very young, and continuously showed off how amazing his concubines were.

Concubines……

After he left, Yan Mingting would marry a wife and have concubines, right? The Yan family itself was sparsely populated. If he, the man that the Emperor forced onto him, died, it would be normal for him to have children.

He was lost in thought when he heard a sarcastic remark in his ear: “What are you looking at? Do you also want to see other people’s beautiful concubines?”

Zhao Yelan was startled. He turned his head and his nose brushed against Yan Mingting’s cheek. “Why are you here?” How was he so free that he could haunt him every day?

Yan Mingting blinked nonchalantly, then pretended to be angry: “I happened to pass by and saw you standing there, staring at the beauties in other people’s houses in a daze.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t want to argue with him, so he continued moving forward, followed by Yan Mingting. They went through a few alleys, entered the main road, and were about to enter the General’s Mansion when someone nearby suddenly called out to Yan Mingting: “General!”

The two turned their heads together and saw a horse coming to an abrupt stop. The horse’s hooves were raised high, almost stepping on Zhao Yelan, and Yan Mingting pulled him to the side.

Sitting on horseback was a young woman with a fair face and heroic features. She was elegant, with bright eyes and good looks, but her clothes were a bit dirty and smelly, her hair was a mess, and her travel-worn appearance was indeed a bit battered.

“Zuo Ran.” Yan Mingting saw who it was and called out her name.

“You know her?” Zhao Yelan had just spoken when he saw the woman neatly dismount the horse. Her knees seemed to have no strength, and they buckled. As soon as Yan Mingting reached out to help, the other party directly collapsed on Yan Mingting’s body.

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“General, something has happened.” The woman burst into tears and grabbed onto his arm, begging, “You’ll help us, won’t you?”

Seeing this, Yan Mingting knew that something was truly wrong and hurriedly supported her: “Let’s go back and you can explain in detail. A wing of the house has been prepared for you.”

Zhao Yelan stood on the spot, looking at their backs. His eyes narrowed slightly and a stern look flashed through them. It was all right to hug and hold each other in a public place with numerous people, and even a wing had been prepared without a word?

He gave Xiao Gao a meaningful look and said in a cold voice: “Have Gu Niaoniao investigate, who is this woman of unknown origin?”

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[1] A Ruyi (如意) is a decorative ceremonial scepter or talisman symbolizing power and good fortune. ⮐

[2] A baby’s one-month birthday dinner celebration. ⮐

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Chapter Forty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Six